In the upcoming winter season, India's airlines are going to increase the number of flights they run by more than 8%. They will have about 23,732 flight departures every week. This is also 1.4% higher than the number of flights they operated during the winter season in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic. So, there will be more flights available for travelers this winter compared to the pre-pandemic period.
During the winter season, airlines are planning to operate 3.6% more flights compared to their summer schedule. In the summer, they had proposed 22,907 flight departures, and now in the winter, they are increasing it by 3.6% to 23,732 flight departures per week. This means more flights will be available in the winter season than in the summer.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) approves flight departures for airlines in India twice a year under the summer and winter schedules. The winter schedule will be in effect from 29 October to 30 March.
The grounding of low-cost carrier Go First in May has left a gap of over 1,300 flight departures, as it scheduled that many departures last winter.