Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia speaks in the Rajya Sabha during the second part of Budget Session of Parliament in New Delhi.
Highlights
- Scindia said in RS that passenger traffic in the aviation sector has almost to pre-pandemic level
- He also stated that the aviation sector was badly affected on the economic front due to the pandemic
- NCP lawmaker asked about impact of the high price of crude oil in the aviation sector
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday said in the Rajya Sabha that passenger traffic in the aviation sector has almost returned to the pre-pandemic level in the country.
"The maximum number of passengers in India per day in pre-Covid times were close to about 4 lakh. We reached a level of 3.83 lakhs per day in the month of December. So we are very well on our way back to recovery, roughly about 5 to 6 percent off from pre-pandemic level," Scindia said.
Referring to the hardships faced by the aviation sector in the last two years due to Covid-19, he further said that this sector was badly affected on the economic front and in the third Covid wave, the passenger traffic went down to almost about 1.60 lakh passengers per day.
"I am pleased to inform the House that yesterday we again reached a level of 3.8 lakh passengers per day. We are seeing a resuscitation in the sector and with that, we hope to see a rebound in terms of employment opportunities," the Minister said.
Scindia was responding to Shiv Sena MP Anil Desai who asked about the government's steps to restore the loss of jobs caused due to the pandemic in the aviation sector.
NCP lawmaker Praful Patel asked about the impact of the current high price of crude oil in the aviation sector. The Civil Aviation Minister said that in the Indian aviation sector, the fuel component is almost 35 percent of the total pricing and the government is taking steps so that this sector which has almost regained its prior position should not face the further problem.
He also said that the average states' surcharge varies from 10 percent to 30 percent in the country where the states collect tax on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF). "I will personally speak to the states and request them to reduce the surcharge on ATF so that the civil aviation sector does not face many problems".
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