Domestic Airlines Cancelled 7,030 Flights Till May 31: Civil Aviation Ministry

Domestic airlines have cancelled 7,030 scheduled flights till May this year, according to the Civil Aviation Ministry. Airlines are expected to operate 4,56,919 scheduled departures in 2024, the ministry said in a submission to the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

As many as 6,413 flights were cancelled in 2022, with the number rising to 7,427 in 2023, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said in a written reply. This year till May 31, that number was 7,030.

The minister said that a phased introduction of Digi Yatra is planned at airports across the country. Since its launch, over 2.5 crore air travellers have utilised Digi Yatra, which uses Facial Recognition Technology to enable contactless, seamless movement of passengers at various airport checkpoints.

"All the passenger data is encrypted and stored in the passenger's smartphone wallet and shared only for a limited time duration with the origin airport where passenger ID needs to be validated," the minister said. "The data is purged from the system after 24 hours of the departure of the flight."

(With inputs from PTI)