Air travel to be relaxed further: Hardeep Singh Puri

Speaking at the Deccan Dialogue, organised by ISB, Minister said the airlines will be able to operate at pre-covid level capacity around December 31 or two weeks thereof

Hyderabad: In a relief to airlines operators, the Government is thinking to allow them to increase their operations from the current 70 per cent (of their pre-covid level) to 80 per cent shortly, said Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister for Civil Aviation and Housing and Urban Affairs.

Speaking at the Deccan Dialogue, organised by ISB, he said the airlines will be able to operate at pre-covid level capacity around December 31 or two weeks thereof. However, there should not be any laxity the current safety precautions and protocols, he said. “India went in to a lockdown on March 23 and the aviation sector was reopened after more than two months. The passenger number now has touched 2,25,000 from the 30,000 allowed after reopening,” he said.

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“Stating that mobility brings in a multiplier effect, he said civil aviation has been, barring for the Covid period, has been growing around 17 per cent. The footfalls at the airports were about 345 million even as the penetration was low seven per cent. The current fleet is about 750 is poised to grow three fold to about 2,000 aircraft in years to come. About 100 new airports are being planned to increase the connectivity,” he said adding that the aerospace and allied segments like maintenance, repair and overhaul, manufacturing, airport development and others offer massive investment opportunities in India.

India this year attracted foreign direct investment of $ 20 billion, Puri said. On economy, he said it is improving and it will be at the pre-Covid level soon. It will help in cutting down the dependence on a single market/country for products and services. The supply chain has be to derisked and the concept of trade now also includes health, biosecurity and supplychain issues, he said.

However, he stressed the need to stay disciplined during festivities as they tend to be super spreaders. Covid-19 reminds us of the Spanish Flu in terms of the devastation. With the constant struggle between man and nature, it is entirely possible that crisis is not the last of its kind, the minister said adding that we should have been able to predict its coming.

There is a need for public health emergency protocols and effort should be to make the public health infra more robust.

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