Will Aircraft Capacity Regulation Easing Save Airline Business?
The government allows aircraft to operate at 100 percent occupancy rates from January 9 to January 25, 2021, as stated in the Ministry of Transportation's Circular Letter (SE) No. 3/2021 on Guidelines for Implementing Domestic Travel with Air Transportation during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
In the circular, the physical distancing provision in narrow-body and wide-body aircraft for scheduled commercial air transportation of a maximum of 70 percent is no longer enforced. Thus, this circular letter revokes the previous regulation, Circular Letter No. 13/2020. However, the Ministry of Transportation requires airlines to provide three rows of seats designated as quarantine areas for passengers suspected of having COVID-19 symptoms.