MUMBAI: The impact of COVID-19 restrictions on air travel will have Indian airports handle about thirty per cent fewer flight departures this month as compared to April 2019, according to data released by OAG, a UK-based aviation consultancy firm.
Among the worst hit countries are Thailand with only 5,800 departures, a drop of 87 per cent; Spain with only 7,800 departures, a reduction of 90 per cent and Italy with only 7,600 departures which is a fall of 87 per cent, says OAG traffic statistics for April. Indian airports will handle about 68,518 departures in April which is about 29 per cent less as compared to same month last year. Alongside India with an average of about 69,000 departures are countries like Japan and Indonesia.
Overall, this equates to 272 million fewer scheduled seats this month than last April. “In absolute terms, the regions with the largest reductions in capacity are Western Europe — down 83 million seats, North America — down by 53 million seats, and North East Asia — down by 42 million seats,” the report said. Every region will see significant reductions, globally about 58 per cent drop on an average, in capacity in April when compared with last April.
