Govt plans to lift cap on flights, wants airlines to fly full capacity

Except IndiGo, airlines resist lifting of cap as traffic uncertain

The government has initiated discussions with airlines to allow them to operate in full capacity, people aware of the development said. However, without a clarity on return of traffic, airlines are asking the government to delay such a move, implying that they will not be able to profitably deploy any more capacity.

Currently, airlines are allo­wed to deploy 80 per cent of their pre-Covid capacity. But except market leader IndiGo, no other airline has been able to reach even 70 per cent of the capacity of what they operated during the previous winter before Covid struck. 

Domestic flights resumed on May 25,