COVID-19 impact ECs ban on physical rallies hits business of charter flight operators
New Delhi Jan 23 PTI The Election Commissions ban on physical rallies in five poll-bound states since January 8 due to the ongoing COVID-19 wave has hit the business of charter flight operators Just 10-15 per cent of the 350-400 flight hours per month are election-related travel at this stage the operators saidElection travel has not really picked up It had started to pick up initially around mid-December but then the EC announced the ban on rallies so that completely stopped most of the election-related travel Rajan Mehra CEO Club One Air told PTI Election travel is very limited added Mehra former India head of Qatar AirwaysKanika Tekriwal CEO and Founder JetSetGo Aviation told PTI that as there is a ban on rallies due to COVID-19 the company has seen only 70 per cent of inquiries for election-related travel this year as compared to last yearHowever no inquiry has been actually converted in actual flights as of yet and their conversion is in process she addedSince ban on physical rallies have been extended we dont see much flights happening for elections this time for rallies Tekriwal notedJetSetGo Aviation and Club One Air have a fleet of 18 and 10 aircraft respectively to operate charter flightsAnnouncing the dates for elections in Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand Goa Punjab and Manipur on January 8 the poll panel had announced a ban on physical rallies roadshows and bike rallies and similar campaign events till January 15On January 15 the commission extended the ban until January 22 On Saturday this was extended to January 31While election-related travel is not picking up for charter companies the overall scenario for business aviation charter flight operations has been very good Mehra stated Right after the first COVID-19 wave safety has become an issue of paramount importance beyond luxury or anything else he mentionedThere has been a regularity of travel in private jets So before COVID-19 if we would on an average see around 150-200 flying hours per month that has gone to up to 350-400 flight hours per month he statedIt might pick up once the EC announces removing the ban on rallies but right now it is 10-15 per cent for most operators he mentionedLast year in the election season approximately 30-40 per cent of the travel was for election rallies he statedTekriwal said JetSetGo Aviation used to achieve its major numbers from business travel before the pandemicHowever leisure travel brings the major share of business right nowWe have received a positive response from our customers towards our Fly Safe commitment to maintaining the COVID-19 protocol standards and experiencing a sharp increase in leisure travel bookings which is continuing now also she Our business travel requests have started showing positive redemptions which are slowly getting back to usual she noted PTI DSP DV DV
New Delhi Jan 23 PTI The Election Commissions ban on physical rallies in five poll-bound states since January 8 due to the ongoing COVID-19 wave has hit the business of charter flight operators Just 10-15 per cent of the 350-400 flight hours per month are election-related travel at this stage the operators saidElection travel has not really picked up It had started to pick up initially around mid-December but then the EC announced the ban on rallies so that completely stopped most of the election-related travel Rajan Mehra CEO Club One Air told PTI Election travel is very limited added Mehra former India head of Qatar AirwaysKanika Tekriwal CEO and Founder JetSetGo Aviation told PTI that as there is a ban on rallies due to COVID-19 the company has seen only 70 per cent of inquiries for election-related travel this year as compared to last yearHowever no inquiry has been actually converted in actual flights as of yet and their conversion is in process she addedSince ban on physical rallies have been extended we dont see much flights happening for elections this time for rallies Tekriwal notedJetSetGo Aviation and Club One Air have a fleet of 18 and 10 aircraft respectively to operate charter flightsAnnouncing the dates for elections in Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand Goa Punjab and Manipur on January 8 the poll panel had announced a ban on physical rallies roadshows and bike rallies and similar campaign events till January 15On January 15 the commission extended the ban until January 22 On Saturday this was extended to January 31While election-related travel is not picking up for charter companies the overall scenario for business aviation charter flight operations has been very good Mehra stated Right after the first COVID-19 wave safety has become an issue of paramount importance beyond luxury or anything else he mentionedThere has been a regularity of travel in private jets So before COVID-19 if we would on an average see around 150-200 flying hours per month that has gone to up to 350-400 flight hours per month he statedIt might pick up once the EC announces removing the ban on rallies but right now it is 10-15 per cent for most operators he mentionedLast year in the election season approximately 30-40 per cent of the travel was for election rallies he statedTekriwal said JetSetGo Aviation used to achieve its major numbers from business travel before the pandemicHowever leisure travel brings the major share of business right nowWe have received a positive response from our customers towards our Fly Safe commitment to maintaining the COVID-19 protocol standards and experiencing a sharp increase in leisure travel bookings which is continuing now also she Our business travel requests have started showing positive redemptions which are slowly getting back to usual she noted PTI DSP DV DV
