Covid resurgence to delay Indian airports’ passenger recovery: Moody’s

The rapid increase in new coronavirus cases is credit negative for Indian airports, given the adverse effect on passenger and aircraft traffic which are key revenue drivers for the sector, Moody’s Investors Service said on Monday.

Before the recent resurgence, India had contained the spread of virus and infection numbers had fallen after the previous peak in mid-September 2020.

The steady decline over that time had allowed for a gradual increase in total airline seat capacity and for domestic passenger traffic to recover to around 60 per cent of the 2019 level by February-end.

“The surge in infection numbers will heighten health concerns, renew economic uncertainty and temper consumers’ willingness to travel.