The government said it had recorded the highest domestic air traffic count on 17 October since flights were resumed in May 2020. While sharing the data, the Civil Aviation Ministry said on 17 October alone 3,27,923 passengers travelled in 2,372 domestic flights. This domestic air traffic count, government claimed is somewhere near the pre-pandemic times.
Recently, the ministry has permitted airlines to operate 100 per cent of their scheduled capacity keeping in mind the growing demand for air travel due to the ongoing festival season. The data also reveals the bumper booking of travellers for Diwali, it is 450 per cent higher than last year’s count. “Owing to the constructive policies of the government, domestic air traffic has seen the highest level, post the onset of the pandemic! The civil aviation sector in India thrives amidst unprecedented challenges, whilst we make every effort to return to normalcy as early as possible,” tweeted the Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.
Last time, the highest post-COVID daily passenger traffic was witnessed in February just before the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The domestic air traffic reached the 3.04 lakh mark on October 10, surpassing the three lakh per day mark for the first time since February 28, 2021, when 3.14 lakh passengers had travelled on domestic flights on a single day.
The government today also flagged off 6 routes expanding the aerial connectivity of North-East India. The routes commencing operations from today are Kolkata – Guwahati, Guwahati – Aizawl, Aizawl – Shillong, Shillong – Aizawl, Aizawl – Guwahati, and Guwahati – Kolkata. “Mizoram is the gateway to North-East India. The city has an immense amount of importance for its tourism & economic sector. We are committed to giving wings to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of making it possible that every state’s uniqueness must be experienced by all citizens of the country. I assure you, that MoS General Dr. V K Singh (Retd.) and I will personally visit Mizoram very soon,” said Scindia.
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