Soaring Covid-19 cases hit Indian airline recovery

Rocketing coronavirus cases are hitting Indian airlines hard, with the much-watched daily average passenger metric one-third off a recent high seen in March. According to India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation, 19 April saw 170,000 domestic passengers flying. This is down from the roughly 280,000 who flew on 21 March, and well off the over 400,000 domestic travellers Indian airlines regularly carried on a typical day before the pandemic. FlightGlobal also understands that domestic bookings in India are down 30-40% across all airlines. In a research update, ICICI Securities notes that the average daily domestic passengers fell to just 193,000 for the week ended 17 April, down from 232,000 a week earlier. “Rising Covid cases and increasing lockdown restriction from various states will remain an overhang on air traffic,” it says. India is in the grip of a massive coronavirus resurgence. According to the Johns Hopkins University, the country saw 260,000 cases on 19 April, bringing its seven-day average to 233,000.<br/>