‘Airport traffic to reach pre-COVID levels by Jan 2021’

In a media release, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Hardeep Singh Puri, shared the latest update on air passenger traffic

Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Hardeep Singh Puri, has announced that he anticipates airport traffic to reach pre-COVID-19 levels by January 2021, based on analysis of travelling trends at airports.

Adding to this, Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola claimed that around 65% of the domestic traffic was already back to pre-pandemic levels. He added that with the reopening of more businesses and trade activities, domestic traffic may return to normal levels in the next 2 to 3 months.

The situation can be observed in traffic data shared by airports. For example,  Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport announced that passenger traffic was close to 42% of the pre-COVID-19 domestic traffic passenger levels in October, while Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) shared that a footfall of around 1.9 million (19 lakh) domestic passengers was witnessed in October.  The festive season is cited as one of the reasons for the boost in air travel.

In the international traffic segment, DIAL saw more than 66% of the combined traffic of three metro airports in October. The Airport Authority has also cited the government’s decision to permit 70% of occupancy in aircraft as one of the major reasons for improved traffic.