Air travel, which resumed from May 25 after being suspended for two months, is experiencing a decline in demand as people appear to be confused about different state guidelines for travel.
According to IE, This confusion and uncertainty is leading to a decrease in the number of travelers. It stated said cancellations have increased, especially in the cases of business travelers.
Citing Ronojoy Dutta, CEO of Indigo, the report says that with different guidelines across states, people are confused, leading to decreased demand.
It is noteworthy that after domestic travel received a go-ahead in India last month, initially for a few days, the demand had come from those who wanted to travel back to their states or were in demanding situations.
Director and CEO of consultancy firm CAPA South Asia, Kapil Kaul told the IE that demand fell mainly over the confusion in resumption, different quarantine norms across the states along with the fear of being infected from Coronavirus as the number of positive cases has escalated in the country.
The report explained that the norms of quarantining people upon travelling have become stringent in many states like- Goa, Delhi and Karnataka.
As the COVID-19 statistics change, states have been revising travel guidelines in a bid to curb Coronavirus transmission.
Notable, someone who wants to travel to another state for a two-day business trip, will avoid that trip as travelling for two day will still ask for a mandatory quarantine varying from 7 to 14 days. This is also the reason a lot of those who travel for business purposes are cancelling their tickets, the report said.
In the future, a new demand is likely to come from those who want to travel to visit friends and family (generally known as the VFR category).
Furthermore, the report highlighted that demand may come from business trips that are again subject to certain resurgence in the economy.
However, demand still depends on the COVID-19 curve in India and will increase if the growth rate of the infection flattens.
(Source- Financial Express)
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