Domestic flights to cost 15% more from June 1

New Delhi: Starting June 1, all airlines will operate at only 50 per cent of their total seat capacity instead of the earlier ceiling of 80 per cent. Alongside that, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has issued a notification to raise the lower limit on domestic airfares from 13 per cent to 16 per cent, which will come into effect from June 1.

This was announced by the Civil Aviation ministry on May 28, who said the decision to decrease occupancy rates was 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."

On May 25 last year, the government had resumed scheduled domestic flights in India after a two-month break. At that time, carriers could not operate at more than 33 per cent of their pre-Covid domestic capacity. By December 2020, the ministry had permitted a gradual increase of seat limits to up to 80 per cent.

Due to multiple state lockdowns, domestic air travel has gone down in the last couple of weeks. Around 3.13 lakh domestic air passengers travelled on February 28, and only 39,000 on May 25. The reduced seating capacity and higher airfares will be a relief for airlines as they have been facing massive losses. Continued on P4