As per the Ministry of Civil Aviation announcement, airlines can operate domestic flights in full capacity from today, October 18. The Civil Aviation Ministry had earlier released a statement permitting the restoration of the scheduled domestic air operations without any restrictions. The resumption of domestic flights comes after a year-and-half hiatus following the outbreak of COVID in 2020.

“It has been decided to restore the scheduled domestic air operation with effect from October 18, 2021, without any capacity restriction,” the Ministry had stated on October 12.
The Ministry revised the order taking into consideration the rise in demand for air travel among passengers.
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The ministry issued a fresh order on Saturday, in which it modified the August 12 order stating that “72.5 percent capacity may be read as 85 percent capacity”. Saturday’s order also noted that the 72.5 percent cap will remain in place “until further order”.

When the government had resumed the scheduled domestic flights on May 25 last year after a two-month break, the ministry had allowed the carriers to operate not more than 33 percent of their pre-Covid domestic services. The cap was gradually increased to 80 percent by December.

Domestic airlines will have to follow COVID-19 protocols while operating flights in full capacity. Caps like minimum and maximum fares will continue to be applicable on domestic flights. Flights with less than 2 hours journey will also not serve or sell meals.
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Welcoming the move to revise passengers’ capacity, domestic carrier IndiGo said it would help airlines meet the pent-up demand in the upcoming festive season. “We are quite bullish about the overall growth and demand for domestic travel,” IndiGo told news agency PTI.
Another domestic carrier, Vistara, told the news agency that the move would help airlines recover from the severe impact of the pandemic.
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