Last week, the Indian aviation regulator announced two decisions for domestic airlines on their flight to recovery. One, while extending price curbs on airfares till 31 March, it raised the floor and ceiling on airfares, effectively allowing airlines to charge more. Two, the regulator retained the cap of allowing airlines to operate up to 80% of seats they were scheduled to offer last summer, before the pandemic brought movement to a standstill.
Even as they add flights and passengers, airlines are far from 80% on both counts. In December 2020, domestic airlines flew 58% of the passengers they did in December 2019, show latest numbers from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the regulator. Further, the ‘winter schedule’ submitted by airlines to the DGCA for operations between October 2020 and March 2021 showed the cumulative number of flights at 54% of the previous, normal season.
Twice a year, every airline has to submit to the DGCA details of their flight operations, including routes, frequency, timings and aircraft type.
