India extends ban on domestic, international flights until May 31

The development will come as a rude shock to the airline industry which is grounded since March 25 with a total shutdown of operations.

Recently, the ministry of civil aviation had circulated a draft standard operating procedure for flight resumption based on social distancing protocols. This had increased expectations of the industry that the flights might be resumed soon.

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in massive losses for the aviation industry across the world.

So far, only those passengers are getting an option of refund who have booked flights during March 25 and April 14 for travel during the second phase of lockdown between April 15 and May 3. All the other bookings are being offered a credit shell valid for a period of one year by the airlines.

CAPA has revised downward its traffic estimates for FY2021 to 55-70 million domestic and 20-27 million international passengers.

"We have assumed that there will be little to no traffic in the months of April and May. Assuming a gradual resumption of services from the month of June, the industry will soon thereafter be heading into the second quarter, historically the weakest period for travel demand in India. The combination of the monsoon quarter, fragile economic conditions and lingering passenger fears about the safety of travel, could prove to be a devastating cocktail for airlines," CAPA India said in a note on May 1.