Maharashtra allows 25 flights to and from Mumbai from May 25; numbers to increase gradually

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Sunday (May 24) announced that it will allow 25 passenger flights to take off from and as many to land in Mumbai starting May 25. It added that the number will be increased gradually. The decision was announced by state minister Nawab Malik barely a couple of hours after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray indicated in the morning that the state was not ready for any such move yet. 

An IndiGo Airline will be the first flight to arrive in Mumbai from Jaipur at 6 am on Monday. 

Minister Nawab Malik said that the administration will allow 25 takeoffs and 25 landings every day for domestic flights from Mumbai.  He said that the number of flights operating from Mumbai will be increased gradually depending upon the COVID-19 situation in the country. He said details and guidelines will be issued by the state government in this regard soon. 

Notably, with Maharashtra already having nearly 50,000 cases of coronavirus-the highest in India-and Mumbai being the worst-affected city the country, the state government had objected to reopening of domestic air travel, fearing that an influx of its natives returning to the state might also possibly lead to a spike in cases in the state.