View: We need ground control to fly again post lockdown
The civil aviation sector has been grounded by the Covid-instigated lockdown. India’s air transport industry’s economic contribution before lockdown was about $35 billion, supporting 6.2 million jobs and contributing 1.5% of GDP.
According to International Air Transport Association (IATA) preliminary estimates, the lockdown could result in a loss of $2.1 billion in passenger base revenue for Indian aviation in 2020 alone.
Faced with the serious danger of at least some domestic airlines going bust, the question is whether post-Covid-19, India will have an ecosystem for safe, efficient and economically viable airline and airport operations.
IATA has already sought a ‘rescue package’, including direct financial support and a host of other one-time concessions, from GoI to mitigate revenue losses. Every passenger lost by an airline is a corresponding passenger loss — and consequent revenue loss — to airports.
