Airlines suffer as passenger drought returns amid second Covid-19 wave

Airlines saw a near-70% drop in average daily passengers in February compared with a year earlier

Just when beleaguered domestic airlines were getting back on their feet after the first Covid-19 outbreak grounded much of their fleets and plunged them into heavy losses, the second Covid wave has dashed hopes for a swift turnaround as passenger numbers have slumped once more.

Domestic airlines ferried under 50,000 passengers on 736 flights on May 28, representing a steep decline from an average of 2.8 lakh passengers flown daily in February this year when reopening hopes were sky high. Before the pandemic-induced lockdown that forced air travel to ground to a halt, airlines had carried 4.4 lakh daily passengers on average in February.

In view of the drastic decrease in demand for air travel, the Civil Aviation Ministry on Friday slashed the allowed capacity for airlines on domestic routes to 50 percent from 80 percent of pre-Covid levels from June 1 onwards. This is the first time the government has cut airlines’ capacity since resuming flight services on May 25 last year after a two-month lockdown.

The government has simultaneously raised the lower limit of fare bands for domestic flights, meaning flights will operate with fewer passengers but charge higher fares.

The decision has been taken "in view of the sudden surge in the number of active Covid-19 cases across the country, decrease in passenger traffic and passenger load factor (occupancy rate)," the ministry had said in the order.

Though airline executives welcomed the reduction in capacity but said the decision may have come too late. They also have said that demand has been hit severely by the need to get tested to enter several states.

“Airlines have been regularly cancelling flights on certain routes because of low load-factors or low anticipated demand. We have been merging two or three flights on major routes in some cases. It is not that people are afraid of flying, but almost all major destinations require RT-PCR testing, which has made it difficult for people to book in advance,” an airline executive told the Indian Express.