Revenues of airlines fell by 85.7% in April-June due to Covid, says civil aviation ministry

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister Hardeep Singh stated that revenue of airport operators reduced to Rs 894 crore during April-June 2020 from Rs 5,745 crore last year.

Representational image of passenger air flights | Commons

New Delhi: The revenue of Indian airlines fell by 85.7 per cent to Rs 3,651 crore during the first quarter of 2020-21 in comparison to the corresponding period a year ago due to COVID-19, said Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday.

Moreover, employee count at the Indian carriers went down from 74,887 on March 31 to 69,589 on July 31, a decrease of 7.07 per cent, Puri stated in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.

“The revenue of airport operators has reduced from Rs 5,745 crore during April-June 2019 to Rs 894 crore during April-June 2020,” he said.

The minister said the employee count at airports has reduced from 67,760 on March 31 to 64,514 on July 31.

Scheduled domestic flight services were suspended in India from March 25 to May 24 due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown. They were resumed from May 25 but in a curtailed manner.

The employee count at ground handling agencies fell by 22.44 per cent to 29,254 in April-July period, Puri said.

In his written reply, Puri was giving information about the “impact of COVID-19 on the civil aviation sector”.

“The revenue of Indian carriers has reduced from Rs 25,517 crore during April-June 2019 to Rs 3,651 crore during April-June 2020,” the minister said.

Air India’s total revenue has reduced from Rs 7,066 crore during April-June 2019 to Rs 1,531 crore during the first quarter of 2020-21, Puri stated.

Puri stated the domestic air traffic in the country fell to 1.2 crore during March-July period as compared to 5.85 crore in the year-ago period.

International traffic dropped to 11.55 lakh in March-July period as compared to 93.45 lakh in the year-ago period, he added.

Scheduled international flights have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown.

However, special international passenger flights have been operating in India under Vande Bharat Mission since May and under bilateral air bubble arrangements formed between India and other countries since July.