Hyderabad: The lifting of embargo on domestic air travel following the Unlock - 1 has brought some smiles on the gloomy faces of air carriers in India.
Latest figures issued by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), a conglomerate of air carriers, show a quantum leap in air travel related consumer sentiments and ticketing in India.
“On May 25 domestic flight operations were resumed. As a result, many nationals started to become more interested in travel. Apart from an uptick in travel-related consumer sentiments, air travel search and (net) ticketing went up by 240%, and 65% respectively, says IATA.
The data from the demand recovery tracking of IATA signals a positive rebound with the ticketing reverted from net cancellations to positive ticketing numbers. But, those remain at a maximum of 30% of levels seen for the same period last year.
Read more:Railways refunds Rs 1885 cr to passengers who booked tickets during lockdown
A tweet from Ministry of Civil Aviation on Wednesday tells that “domestic operations continues to register a healthy increase” in India. But, there is no pickup yet towards the end of the year, with ticketing for December travel remaining at 26% of levels seen at the same time last year according to IATA.
Globally, the scenario has also improved and the latest figures signals the demand rebound, air travel sentiment on a global view increased by 5 per cent points from the minimum in April until end of May towards 20 per cent of pre-crisis levels.
Earlier in a statement released by IATA this week, Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said, “April was a disaster for aviation as air travel almost entirely stopped. But April may also represent the nadir of the crisis. Flight numbers are increasing. Countries are beginning to lift mobility restrictions. And business confidence is showing improvement in key markets such as China, Germany, and the US. These are positive signs as we start to rebuild the industry from a stand-still. The initial green shoots will take time—possibly years—to mature”.
Developments are correlated to the development of new COVID-19 case numbers and partial lifting of travel restrictions.
(ETV Bharat Report)
