India’s civil aviation in dire straits

Aviation consultancy firm Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation has warned that India’s civil aviation industry is at breaking point due to massive losses because of flight restrictions during the Covid-19 outbreak and this could take a toll on the country’s air connectivity. On March 25, the Indian government imposed a ban on flights to curb the spread of Covid-19 and only allowed the resumption of flights two months later. Once flights resumed on May 25, airlines were allowed to operate only one-third of their scheduled summer flights, and that was later raised to 45%, but the airlines are still operating below 33% due to low patronage. Passenger loads are still between 55% and 60%. In addition, the abrupt lockdown rule changes implemented by various state governments have impacted schedules, leading to frequent flight cancellations. India’s top domestic airline IndiGo and prominent carrier SpiceJet have posted losses for the April-June quarter against profits in the same period one year ago. The consultancy observed that IndiGo’s losses were consistent with its earlier projection of a consolidated industry loss of US$1.50b to $1.75b.<br/>