According to the 2021 summer schedule of flights approved by The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), 18843 departures per week will be operational from 108 domestic airports.

According to a release on Twitter from the DGCA, the 108 airports include the new airports of Bareilly, Bilaspur, Kurnool and Rupasi.

Among the individual airlines, Indigo has the highest number of approved flights (8749, including RCS flights). Air India has 1683 weekly flights approved.

According to the notification, the summer schedule of 2021 is 80 percent of the 2020 schedule.

Last year at the same time, all commercial passenger flights were grounded owing to the breaking of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although limited flights became operational in end-May last year, running at one-third of their capacity, the number was gradually raised to 70 per cent in November.

The summer schedule will run up to the last Sunday of October 2021.

Meanwhile, DGCA has also issued an advisory in March regarding enhanced surveillance for COVID-19 protocol at airports in India. It noted that some airports in the country were found to be lacking in compliance.

The regulatory body reminded all airport authorities and related stakeholders to ensure that instructions on COVID-19 protocol must be strictly followed, including wearing masks properly, covering nose and mouth, maintaining the required distancing norms within the airport premises, etc.

Civil Aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri also said that police may take punitive action against passengers who do not comply.