New Delhi: India won’t allow commercial flights to operate until it is confident that the coronavirus outbreak is under control, says the Indian aviation minister.
As a result further pressure is piling on the country’s cash-strapped airlines. The ban will be lifted only when the government determines that the virus is no longer a threat, Hardeep Singh Puri wrote in a Twitter post.
Airlines had been selling tickets in advance even though the government said there’d been no decision on allowing them to operate, Puri wrote in a series of tweets. Airlines will be given “sufficient notice and time” to resume flights, he further added.
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I want to once again say that flight restrictions that are in place as a result of India's fight against COVID19 will be lifted once we are confident that spread of the virus has been controlled & it poses no danger to our country & people.
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) April 20, 2020
Ticket sales have been banned which applies to both, local and international airlines. Due to which carriers will have to take more steps to reduce costs having already put some staff on leave without pay and reducing salaries. It is to be noted that airlines use funds from advance ticket sales to cover day-to-day expenses.
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India initially announced a 21-day lockdown until April 14, and airlines had started selling tickets before the extension to May 3 was announced last Tuesday. Most carriers have been offering credit instead of refunds, if flights are canceled, which is a common practice used by other airlines around the world.
The travel restrictions mean the three months ending June 30 will be “virtual washout” for the Indian aviation industry, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) said earlier this month.
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Indian local airlines are one of the world’s biggest customers for Airbus SE and Boeing Co. According to CAPA, local airlines are likely to defer taking delivery of 200 new planes by as long as two years.
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