501 domestic flights carrying 44,593 passengers operated on Sunday: Hardeep Singh Puri

A total of 501 domestic flights carrying 44,593 passengers operated in the country on May 31, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Monday. Domestic services were suspended in India due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown and resumed after a gap of two months on May 25. Indian carriers operated a total of 3,370 flights till May 31 -- 428 on May 25, 445 on May 26, 460 on May 27, 494 on May 28, 513 on May 29 and 529 on May 30.

"Domestic operations on 31st May 2020 (Day 7) till 2359 hrs. Departures 501. 44,593 passengers handled. Arrivals 502. 44,678 passengers handled," Puri tweeted on Monday.

A departure is counted as a flight during the day. During the pre-lockdown period, Indian airports handled around 3,000 daily domestic flights, aviation industry sources said. In February, around 4.12 lakh passengers travelled daily through domestic flights in India, according to Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data.

Airports in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Tamil Nadu have been allowed to handle a restricted number of daily flights as these states do not want a huge influx of flyers amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases. While domestic services resumed in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday, they restarted in West Bengal on Thursday.