(a) whether the Aviation Industry is suffering losses on account of non operation of international flights;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government has undertaken any study to estimate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the Aviation Sector;
(d) if so, the details thereof; and
(e) whether the Government is planning to resume normal international flights and if so, the details thereof including the time by which it is likely to be resumed?
The Minister of State (IC) in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION
(Shri Hardeep Singh Puri)
(a) to (d) Based on the information received from the stakeholders, the impact of COVID-19 on aviation sector and losses accrued on account of non-operation of flights are as under:
1. There have been regulatory restrictions on flight operations leading to severe curtailment in operations and sub-optimal aircraft utilisation.
2. The international traffic has reduced from 93,45,469 during March-July in 2019 to 11,55,590 during March-July 2020.
3. The revenue of Indian carriers has reduced from INR 25,517 crore during April-June 2019 to INR 3,651 crore during April-June 2020.
4. The revenue of airport operators has reduced from INR 5,745 crore during April-June 2019 to INR 894 crore during April-June 2020.;
5. In respect of Air India, the total revenue has reduced from INR 7,066 crore during April-June 2019 to INR 1,531 crore during April-June 2020.
6. The employment at airlines has reduced from 74,887 as on 31 Mar 2020 to 69,589 as on 31 Jul 2020.
7. The employment at airports has reduced from 67,760 as on 31 Mar 2020 to 64,514 as on 31 Jul 2020.
8. The employment at ground handling agencies has reduced from 37,720 as on 31 Mar 2020 to 29,254 as on 31 Jul 2020.
9. The employment at cargo operators has reduced from 9,555 as on 31 Mar 2020 to 8,538 as on 31 Jul 2020.
(e) For international travel, exclusive air links or "Air Bubbles" have been established with Afghanistan, Bahrain, Canada, France, Germany, Qatar, Maldives, United Arab Emirates (UAE), United Kingdom (UK) and The United States of America (USA). These are temporary arrangements aimed at restarting passenger services while regular flights remain suspended.;