Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri while addressing the media via video conferencing on the plans for massive evacuation of Indians stranded abroad in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic did not indicate any timeline by which domestic and international flights will be resumed. Instead, he said that the move is contingent on the "behaviour of the virus" and the ground level preparations to handle any situation.

The civil aviation industry is already under extreme duress. A report released by the aviation consultancy Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation India (Capa India) earlier this week states that the estimate for domestic traffic for FY21 has declined from 80-90 million (8-9 crore), to 55-70 million (5.5-7 crore), while international estimates are down from 35-40 million (3.5-4 crore) to 20-27 million (2-2.7 crore).

Also, the falling demand would leave Indian carriers with 200-250 surplus planes over the next 6-12 months.

These projections have been made with the assumption that travel restrictions will be broadly lifted by the end of June.

Following from the above, the prevailing situation will have a deleterious effect on airport media and airline branding business in the country.

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