Covid surge, mandatory tests cast a shadow over air travel

The daily number of domestic passengers departing from Indian airports fell below the 2 lakh-mark for the first time in almost five months on Tuesday. Those closely tracking the sector almost unanimously attributed the fall in air traffic demand to the requirements of mandatory negative Covid test reports and random checks upon arrival at airports by various states. According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, 1.83 lakh passengers departed from Indian airports on domestic flights on Tuesday. This number was 2.59 lakh exactly a month ago on March 13.

As per Health Ministry data, as of Wednesday 8 am, India had 13,65,704 active Covid19 cases, an increase of 1,01,006 cases compared to a day ago.