New Delhi- In signs that the country’s civil aviation sector is recovering well, domestic carriers flew more than 4 lakh passengers for two consecutive days.
After being severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic, air traffic is picking up but is yet to reach the pre-COVID level when the daily average passenger number was more than 4 lakh.
Currently, the average passenger number is around 3.70 lakh and the same is expected to rise in the coming months as generally December and January witness higher air traffic, according to a senior civil aviation ministry official.
On November 27 (Sunday), domestic airlines carried 4,09,831 passengers on 2,739 flights. The number was at 4,05,963 passengers on 2,767 flights on November 26 (Saturday), as per official data.
The passenger count on November 27 was also the highest so far since the coronavirus pandemic. The previous high was on April 17 when the count had touched 4,07,975.
Indian airlines carried 1.14 crore passengers in October, 10 per cent higher than the number of people flown in September.
Domestic air traffic jumped nearly 27 per cent to 114.07 lakh last month compared to the year-ago period when it was 89.85 lakh.
In September, the air traffic number stood at 103.55 lakh.
On October 11, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the number of daily domestic air passengers nearing the pre-COVID level as a “great sign” and said the focus is on improving connectivity across the country.
On October 9, the domestic air passenger traffic touched 4 lakh and was inching closer to the pre-COVID level.
In the wake of the pandemic, scheduled domestic flight services were suspended for two months starting from March 25, 2020. (PTI)