Delhi airport’s T2 terminal will be shut to passengers from May 17 midnight. It has been decided to shut the terminal owing to the low number of flights operating from here. Reportedly, the second wave of COVID-19 that India is currently battling has led to safety apprehension in people, thus fewer people are taking flights now. Starting May 17 midnight, all the flights will be operating from terminal T3 of the airport.
In pre-COVID time, an approximate number 0f 1500 flights operated at the Delhi airport; the number has now crashed to around 325 flights. It has also been reported by the Ministry of Civil Aviation that the number of daily domestic passengers has come down to 75,000 from 2.2 lakhs in just a few weeks. India is currently grappling with a deadly second wave of COVID-19 with a record surge in the number of COVID-19 positive patients as well as the related death toll.
A number of states across the nation are also under lockdown. While domestic flights continue to operation, the staggering number of deaths and the outbreak has instilled fear in people, most of them avoiding non-essential travel. People are also expecting stricter lockdowns and a ban on fights in some of the states and are thus avoiding travel currently.
India, currently, is the second worst-hit nation by the pandemic after the USA. In addition, while the USA has expedited vaccination programs, India still has the majority of its population vaccinated.