Air traffic will revive soon: Aviation secretary

Speaking at a webinar organized by industry body Ficci on Thursday, Kharola said the sector remained resilient during the ongoing covid-19 pandemic.

“Civil aviation is one of the sectors which have come out of the pandemic, though still struggling... but in the next two to three months, at least domestic aviation will be back to normal," he added.

Domestic air passenger traffic in November grew 20% from the previous month, but was still 51% lower compared to November 2019, according to latest data from Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Currently, Indian airlines are allowed to operate up to 80% of pre-covid capacity.

“Big countries like India, which have a huge domestic market, is where the future of aviation lies," Kharola added.

India’s air passenger traffic is expected to rebound in FY22, though it will widely lag the levels seen in FY16, credit rating agency ICRA said in a recent report, adding the recovery of domestic traffic is expected to be earlier than that of international traffic.

“If a vaccine is launched earlier with reasonable availability, domestic air passenger traffic could witness a further upside in FY22, with an estimated growth of about 93%, and international air passenger traffic could witness an estimated growth of about 235%," the ICRA report added