Airlines have sought $1.5 bn interest-free credit, says Hardeep Singh Puri

To be able to cope with the loss of revenue on account of Covid-19, Indian airlines have sought interest-free credit of $1.5 billion from the Centre, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told Parliament Wednesday. Additionally, airlines have also requested that state-owned banks and financial institutions defer repayment of loans to aviation industry by six months and not treated them as non-performing assets (NPA), the minister noted in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

According to air traffic data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Wednesday, 28.32 lakh domestic passengers travelled this August — the third full month of flight operations since the unlock — as against 1.18 crore passengers in August last year.