New Delhi: In yet another sign of normalcy returning, Civil Aviation Ministry on Tuesday allowed domestic airlines to serve meals onboard as Covid-19 cases continue to fall across the country. Magazines and reading materials have also been allowed on all domestic and international flights.
“The airlines operating flights on domestic sectors may provide meal services on board without restriction on duration of the flight, in partial relaxation of this Ministry’s order dated 12.04.2021 following the guidelines as mentioned therein,” the civil aviation ministry said.
The government has been gradually removing restrictions with the widening of vaccine coverage and lower risk of Coronavirus infections.
An airline executive said that there is substantial demand from flyers for food and reading materials on board.
With effect from October 18, 2021, the government has allowed complete restoration of pre-Covid airline capacity on domestic network.
The aviation ministry had reduced the permissible capacity deployment to 50% of pre-Covid levels in June this year in the wake of rising Covid cases. It subsequently increased the permitted capacity to 72.5% of pre-Covid capacity in August as cases showed a downward trend. It then further raised it to 85% with effect from September 18, 2021 as situation improved.
