FILE
The government on Wednesday said that domestic flight operations in India would begin in a "calibrated manner" from May 25. Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri took to Twitter to announce the news. He said all airports and air carriers were being informed to begin operations next week onwards. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for passenger movement will also be separately issued by the Civil Aviation Ministry.
"All airports and air carriers are being informed to be ready for operations from 25 May. SOPs for passenger movement also being separately issued by Ministry, Puri said in his tweet.
Earlier in the day, Puri had hinted that the government was ready to resume domestic flights before the end of the fourth phase of coronavirus lockdown in the country. The flight services in the country have been on hold since the last week of March when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the first phase of lockdown in view of the coronavirus crisis.
On Tuesday, Puri said the Centre alone cannot take a decision on resuming passenger flights and the state governments should be ready to allow these services in the spirit of cooperative federalism. Senior government officials have said around 30 per cent of domestic flights will be allowed initially. "The number of flights will be increased gradually after that," one of them added. The officials also said the government is likely to put a cap, as well as a floor, on all air fares so as to discourage predatory pricing by airlines.
(With PTI inputs)
