Omicron effect: Sharp fall in air travel following latest Covid surge
NEW DELHI: Amid the unprecedented spike in Covid cases in the country, domestic air traffic has dropped below the 2 lakh daily mark after 125 days.
As per the civil aviation ministry, airlines carried 1,89,392 passengers on January 11. This is a sharp decline from the highest of 3.93 lakh passengers that domestic airports recorded during the third week of November 2021.
An airport authority official said the number of domestic passengers was nearly 3.5 lakh per day during the end of December 2021.
But it started dipping as Covid cases witnessed a surge. On January 4, the number of domestic air travellers went below the mark of 3 lakh.
“Many states have imposed restrictions at airports. Leisure travel is gone. Business travel and essential travel has also come down as people are avoiding journey. All these factors are reflected in the low number of air passengers,” said the official.
States have imposed separate norms or guidelines for testing and quarantine.
For example, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) issued fresh guidelines for air passengers coming to the city, making Covid-19 tests mandatory for all deplaning at Biju Patnaik International Airport with effect from January 7.Due to the restrictions, the number of flights came down sharply in the last week.
IndiGo limited its flights connecting Kolkata, Durgapur and Bagdogra to Delhi and Mumbai to Mondays and Fridays.
Besides, many airlines including IndiGo, Air India and Go First have announced free change of date or flight number for domestic flights in view of the prevailing “uncertainties”.