Revenue of India's airlines falls by Rs.21,886 cr in April-June 2020 compared to last year

On Thursday, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri revealed that the revenue of Indian carriers reduced to Rs.3651 crore in April-June 2020 in comparison to Rs.25,517 crore in the same period last year. Explaining the impact of COVID-19 on the aviation sector in response to numerous unstarred questions, he noted that Air India's revenue had reduced from Rs.7,066 crore in April-June 2019 to Rs.1,531 crore during April-June 2020. Observing that the Airports Authority of India was likely to register a loss in the Financial Year 2020-21, Puri stated that it had taken the Fund Based Working Facility of Rs.1,500 crore from the State Bank of India.

On the other hand, Air India and Air India Express earned Rs.2,021 crore and Rs.415 crore respectively from Vande Bharat flights up to August 31. The employment at airlines, airports, ground handling agencies and cargo operators has reduced by 5298, 3246, 8466 and 1017 respectively from March 31-July 31, 2020. Mentioning that restrictions on international airlines continue, the Civil Aviation Minister reiterated that India has entered into Air Bubble agreements with USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Maldives, UAE, Qatar, Afghanistan and Bahrain. According to him, the Centre had taken several steps to help the aviation sector such as route rationalization and reduction in GST rate for domestic Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul services.

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COVID-19 crisis

At the advent of the COVID-19 crisis, passenger international air travel was suspended with effect from March 22. Meanwhile, domestic flight operations stopped from the midnight of March 24. Meanwhile, the Centre commenced the Vande Bharat mission on May 7 to bring back the Indian nationals stranded abroad. From May 25, domestic air operations were allowed in a calibrated manner. Initially, only 33% of the summer schedule was permitted to operate which was subsequently increased to 45% on June 26, 2020, and 60% on September 2, 2020. 

Currently, there are 51,18,253 confirmed novel coronavirus cases in India out of which 40,25,079 patients have recovered while 83,198 fatalities have been reported. There are 10,09,976 active cases in the country. With 82,961 patients recovering in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 recovery rate soared to 78.61%. At present, the recovered cases outnumber active cases by 30,15,103.

Read: SC To Hear Pleas Seeking Refund Of Airfare For Cancelled Flights On Sept 23

(Image credits: PTI)