Corona crisis hurts aviation sector, earnings fall 86 per cent in first quarter

New Delhi, 20 September 2020 Sunday

In the Corona crisis, not only the aviation industry has been affected, but thousands of people have also lost their jobs. According to information provided by the government in Parliament, the revenue of Indian carriers has declined by about 86 per cent this year as compared to the first quarter of last year.

According to experts, due to regulatory difficulties, the country has not been able to function at full capacity during this period. Capt. Arvind Singh, who is associated with the airline, said the lockdown in the Corona period was affecting the whole world, but in India it had a very bad effect.

He said that when passenger flight options were discontinued, companies were allowed to move freight to many countries around the world, which not only created new sources of income for the industry, but also saw an employment crisis.

Citing the example of Korean Airlines, he said that the company has made a profit even during the Corona period. But the companies operating in the country were late in getting this permission due to the rules and regulations made for business. This is the reason why the industry is going through difficult times.

The industry's revenue during the April-June quarter last year was Rs 25,517 crore, up from Rs 3,651 crore in the first quarter of this year. Airport operations generated revenue of Rs 894 crore in the first quarter of this year as compared to last year. In addition, Air India's total revenue fell by about 80% to Rs 1,531 crore.

The loss of earnings loss is also seen on jobs in the industry. According to the government, the number of jobs in the airline fell by 5,000 to 69,589 as of July 31, compared to March 31. Not only that, employment has declined in more than eight thousand ground handling agencies and more than three thousand airports.

However, the situation in the cargo sector has deteriorated. Here the employment figure has seen a decline of one thousand. Experts believe that if Corona's condition improves in the coming quarters, the industry's losses will gradually decrease.