'Indians Soar In Skies Again', Says Govt As 532 Domestic Flights Fly Over 39,000 Passengers Home

Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri hailed the resumption of flights and shared a live image by a real time flight tracking service provider.

India today witnessed 532 flights & 39,231 passengers returning to Indian skies. (Image: Twitter/ @AAI_Official)

New Delhi: After a suspension of two months, Civil Aviation Ministry on Monday resumed a number of domestic flights across India in a calibrated means. After first day of operations, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri hailed the resumption of flights and shared a live image by a real time flight tracking service provider. Taking to his personal Twitter handle, Union Minister said, "Indians soar in the skies again! A beautiful live capture from flight radar 24 shows how our skies look busy again as domestic civil aviation recommences in India from today."

Indians soar in the skies again! A beautiful live capture from #flightradar24 shows how our skies look busy again as domestic civil aviation recommences in India from today.@MoCA_GoI @AAI_Official @DGCAIndia @flyspicejet @airindiain @IndiGo6E @airvistara @goairlinesindia pic.twitter.com/LytA1H8xcH

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 25, 2020

In the following tweets, he said that from no domestic passenger flights till yesterday, India today witnessed 532 flights & 39,231 passengers returning to Indian skies. "From no domestic passenger flights yesterday to 532 flights & 39,231 passengers today, action has returned to Indian skies. With Andhra Pradesh set to resume operations from tomorrow & West Bengal from 28 May, these numbers are all set to increase further," HS Puri tweeted.

From no domestic passenger flights yesterday to 532 flights & 39,231 passengers today, action has returned to Indian skies. With Andhra Pradesh set to resume operations from tomorrow & West Bengal from 28 May, these numbers are all set to increase further.@MoCA_GoI @PIB_India

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 25, 2020

Domestic flight services resumed on Monday across most states in the country, although with limited operations. Andhra Pradesh will resume services on May 26 while West Bengal on May 28. The resumption, however faced chaos as several states moved to limit air operations. Over 80 domestic flights were cancelled owing to the state governments' cap on accepting flights.  Consequently, passengers who had booked tickets rushed to cancel them. On last Thursday, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri  had announced that not all but only one-third of the pre-lockdown domestic flights will operate from Monday, while suspension remains intact for international scheduled commercial passenger flights.