Will it be more of the same?

2021 was as tough year for civil aviation. Will 2022 serve more of the same or will it be any different? AMEYA JOSHI examines

- AMEYA JOSHI

The year 2021 saw 838.14 lakh passengers fly on domestic routes in India, showed data released by regulator Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). While this is a jump of 33.1 percent over 2020, it still pales in front of 2019 when traffi stood at 1441.71 lakh passengers and a drop of over 40 percent as compared to pre-COVID levels.

While 2020 was about lockdown, 2021 was all about living with the pandemic as the country saw a deadly second wave when businesses almost came to a standstill as cases and deaths both mounted to their peak in May and June, only to come back quickly and reach record highs in November and December.

The pandemic, it seems, is here to stay and already we have seen that the air traffi is dictated by the peaks and troughs of the pandemic and not by the traditional seasonality which was the case pre-COVID. India had two peaks for domestic traffi. One from April to June - the Q1 of the financial year and another from October to December - the Q3 of the financial year. These periods coincide with school holidays and festivities. However, the deadly second wave of the pandemic last year was between April and June - which was devastating for everyone. If not in the next few years, then at least the next few quarters are likely to see traffi which is dependent on how the virus behaves and not on the basis of what the traditional traffi patterns have been.

How has the year been?