Domestic air passenger traffic crosses the 10 million mark in November 2021

According to rating agency ICRA, domestic air passenger traffic crossed the 10 million mark in November 2021 for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the aviation industry in March 2020. After recording 12.3 million domestic passengers in February 2020, domestic air travel demand dipped to 1.98 million passengers in the first month (June 2020) of the resumption of flights on local routes after a two-month hiatus. The recovery in domestic traffic continued till March this year when a more virulent second wave of the pandemic hit the country, resulting in domestic travel demand nosediving to 2.12 million passengers in May 2021. The month-on-month growth, however, stood at 15-16 per cent in November over around 8.98 million passengers in October 2021. The new Covid variant, Omicron, has the potential to affect the aviation industry again.