Airlines manage to fill half of flights on average; demand to fall further

MUMBAI: With homebound students, young professionals, small-time businessmen and workers accounting for most travellers, airlines have managed to operate flights at about 50% occupancy rates, although industry insiders say demand will plunge once the spate of essential travel is over.

Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri wrote on microblogging platform Twitter that airlines ferried 30,136 passengers on 367 flights till 5 pm on Thursday.

This means airlines are operating with only 82 passengers on average per flight. Most aircraft in India have 180 seats.