445 domestic flights carrying 62,641 passengers operated on Tuesday: Aviation Minister

A total of 445 domestic flights, carrying 62,641 passengers, were operated on Tuesday, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday, asserting that airports functioned smoothly on the second day after recommencement of domestic air travel in India.

Services were resumed on Monday after a gap of two months and 428 flights were operated within the country on the same day. All scheduled domestic services were suspended in India from March 25 to May 24 due to restrictions in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

"Our skies & airports are busy again. On 26th May, the 2nd day of recommencement of domestic passenger flights in India, our airports handled 62,641 flyers on 445 departures & 447 arrivals. All airport functioning was smooth. Only 6 departures were rescheduled," Puri said on Twitter.

Domestic passenger flights are currently permitted to operate from all airports in the country except the ones in West Bengal. West Bengal had opposed the resumption of domestic flights from Monday as it had recently been hit by cyclone Amphan.

On Sunday night, the central government announced that domestic passenger flights will begin in West Bengal from Thursday. Other states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu had also opposed the resumption of flights due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases.

Therefore, on Sunday night, the central government had said that airports in these states will be handling a significantly reduced number of daily flights from Monday onwards.

This led to hundreds of last-minute flight cancellations, causing immense problems for flyers. On Monday, around 630 domestic flights were cancelled.

India has been under lockdown since March 25 to curb the spread of the coronavirus that has infected more than 1.5 lakh people and killed more than 4,300 people in the country till now.

(Photo Credit: PTI)