It has been two months since the time domestic flights in India resumed. The number of passengers travelling has dropped significantly. In June 2019, there were 1.21 crore travellers flying compared to the month of June 2020, where there are only 19.84 lakh active passengers. Travellers all around the country are still adjusting to the new ways of travel and it will take some time for them to regain their confidence in travelling. One big reason why travelling passengers are so low is the capacity at which airlines are allowed to operate at. Let’s take a look at that.
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Allowed Capacity for Airlines in India to Operate At
Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that Domestic Flights in India are going to operate at lesser capacities. Each of the airlines has been advised to only operate 45% of their pre-COVID capacity. If this number feels less, then just know that in the month of June, this allowance was only 30%-35%. When the flights were resuming, it was estimated that they will operate at least 50% of their capacity, but that didn’t happen. In fact, Hardeep Sing Puri in a press conference said that domestic flights in India haven’t even reached the 33% mark of operating capacity.
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New Price Bands
The price bands have been divided into seven categories. The first price band starts from flights of duration 40 minutes or less for which the lower limit is Rs 2,000 and the upper is Rs 6,000. For the second of flights between 40 minutes and 60 minutes, the price band is Rs 2,500 – Rs 7,500. For the third band which is between 60-90 minutes, the price band is Rs 3,000 – Rs 9,000. The fourth band which is between 90-120 minutes has a price of Rs 3,500 and Rs 10,000. The fifth band which is between 120-150 minutes, it has a price of Rs 4,500 – Rs 13,000. The sixth band which is between 150-180 minutes, it has a price of Rs 5,500 – Rs 15,700. The seventh band which is between 180-210 minutes, it has a price of Rs 6,500 – Rs 18,600.
