After Pakistan, In India too the domestic passenger flights will resume from Monday

After Pakistan, In India too the domestic passenger flights will resume from Monday “in a calibrated manner”, Indian government said today. There may be fewer flights but Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said “it is not viable” to keep middle seat vacant as ticket prices would shoot up. Flights were stopped in late March, when the country went into lockdown to slow the spread of coronavirus.

While the government as well as airlines have talked about a “new normal” when flights start again, with fewer passengers in a flight, Mr Puri made it clear that it would not be possible to keep the middle seat vacant, which had been one of the suggestions for ensuring physical distancing to avoid the infection.

“It’s not viable to keep the middle seat vacant. Even if you keep the middle seat vacant you’ll still have a situation where the prescribed distance for social distancing isn’t followed. If you were to do it then you’ve to hike up airline ticket price by 33 per cent,”