NEW DELHI, May 29 (Xinhua) -- India's federal civil aviation ministry has reduced the seating capacity of domestic flights to 50 percent from next month, officials said Saturday.
The decision to reduce the seating capacity from June 1 was taken in view of the spike in COVID-19 cases across the country.
"This decision has been taken in view of the sudden surge in the number of active COVID-19 cases across the country, decrease in passenger traffic and passenger load factor (occupancy rate)," read an order from the ministry quoted in local media.
Earlier the permitted limit was 80 percent.
Meanwhile, the ministry has decided to raise the minimum fares of domestic flights from 13 to 16 percent from June 1, a move which is likely to make domestic travel costlier.
India imposed lower and upper limits on airfares based on flight duration when services were resumed on May 25 last year after a two-month lockdown.
Meanwhile, the commercial international flights to and from India shall remain suspended until June 30 as per the notification issued by the country's civil aviation watchdog, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), on Friday.
However, the restriction shall not be applicable for international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by DGCA. Enditem
