Air travel resumes but many seats on 532 flights go empty

Air travel resumes but many seats on 532 flights go empty

39,000 passengers ferried; last-minute cancellations leave many frustrated

26/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI

Safe journey: Passengers coming out of the airport in New Delhi on Monday. V.V. Krishnan

Airlines ferried more than 39,000 passengers on 532 flights on Monday as domestic air travel was resumed after two months. But a large number of passengers were left stranded as airlines were forced to cancel half the flights just hours before take-off due to poor co-ordination between the Centre and the States.

Late on Sunday, airlines were told to curtail their operations after Maharashtra, Telangana and Tamil Nadu, with some of the busiest airports in the country — Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai — restricted the number of flights that could be operated. Others like West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh postponed the re-opening of their airports until May 28 and May 26, respectively.

“From no domestic passenger flights yesterday to 532 flights & 39,231 passengers today, action has returned to Indian skies. With Andhra Pradesh set to resume operations from tomorrow & West Bengal from 28 May, these numbers are all set to increase further,” Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri tweeted on Monday.

Wary passengers

However, in a possible sign of reluctance among passengers to travel in the times of COVID-19, occupancy was sparse with just 25%-50% seats filled. This has come as a surprise to the airlines as it was felt that there might be pent-up demand for travel, especially from people stranded in different States.

But many of those who did decide to fly despite the tough protocols and health guidelines were hard hit by last-minute changes and cancellations. Airlines had their hands full reworking flight schedules and facing passenger ire over cancellations.