Airlines pushing for an early resumption of flights amidst COVID-19

Indian airlines have been pushing for an early resumption of domestic flights from key metros. The airlines have warned the government that a prolonged lockdown could cripple their operations forever. The government in the past had stated that it was in favour of restarting flights in the green zones.

However, most of the green zones comprise of smaller towns and cities which do not have the necessary passenger traffic. Most districts in metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bengaluru are in the red zone with an active number of cases. Hence, if airlines are to operate in only the smaller towns, huge losses can be expected which could further cripple the economy.

A senior official speaking to the media recently stated that Indian airlines operate on a fleet of narrow-body planes such as Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 which are too large to operate from smaller towns from the demand perspective.

IndiGo and SpiceJet, which have smaller planes, ATR 72-600 and Bombardier Q400, however, comprise only a small part of their respective fleet. Airline officials have stated that operating between cities in green zones will result in more losses compared to keeping their fleet grounded adding that it might not even be viable for airlines to fly on certain routes, especially the ones connecting the smaller towns and cities as a consequence of weak demand.

According to the aviation consultant Capa India, Indian airlines are facing a cash crunch due to grounding of flight operations with Gove India’s aviation sector, airlines, airport firms, ground handling companies and airport retailers, expecting to post losses of $3-3.6 billion in the June quarter.

Kapil Kaul, chief executive officer, Capa India, speaking to the media stated that the current situation posed a predicament, further adding that as there are more challenges in the metro cities with the rising number of infections increasing rapidly. As a consequence, it has become more difficult to ascertain the situation. Moreover, the cases are said to peak in the months of June and July which will constrain resumption within the metros. The lockdown has now been extended is yet to hear a final decision regarding the resumption of airline operations in the country.