Airlines suffer as passenger drought returns amid second Covid-19 wave

Just when beleaguered domestic airlines were getting back on their feet after the first Covid-19 outbreak grounded much of their fleets and plunged them into heavy losses, the second Covid wave has dashed hopes for a swift turnaround as passenger numbers have slumped once more.

Domestic airlines ferried under 50,000 passengers on 736 flights on May 28, representing a steep decline from an average of 2.8 lakh passengers flown daily in February this year when reopening hopes were sky high. Before the pandemic-induced lockdown that forced air travel to ground to a halt, airlines had carried 4.4 lakh daily passengers on average in February.