The dismay of resumed flights has left hundreds of passengers stranded.
New Delhi:
More than 58,000 passengers flew on Monday as India resumed limited domestic air travel after two months due to the shutdown of the coronavirus, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday.
Airports are buzzing and passengers are back in the air.
58,318 passengers flew to their destination on 832 flights on the first day, from May 25 at midnight.
Operations began in Andhra Pradesh from today. These numbers should all skyrocket.@PMOIndia@MoCA_GoIpic.twitter.com/eWB9KeS9W9
– Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 26, 2020
Airlines’ plans to resume air travel were met with chaos and confusion on Monday after some states limited the number of flights hours before departure, causing last-minute cancellations and leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.
Airlines, including IndiGo, India’s largest carrier, SpiceJet and Vistara, a joint venture between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, were preparing to resume operations from Monday with around a third of their capacity under strict rules.
But new restrictions at major airports, including Mumbai and Chennai, have forced airlines to rush in Sunday evening to revise schedules.
The confusion will make it even more difficult for airlines to recover from the impact of a two-month lockdown to contain the new coronavirus that has already cost tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue, officials warned. industry, analysts said.
(With agency contributions)
