The minister sounded a note of caution, saying "it's not yet time to pawri". (FILE)
Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri is the latest to join the "pawri" viral trend, started by a Pakistani influencer, to make a point. The minister informed that the number of domestic fliers is growing steadily towards pre-Covid figures after months of slump while at the same time sounding a note of caution, citing the surge in the COVID-19 cases in the country
"It's not yet time to pawri," the Civil Aviation Minister reminded.
"But number of domestic fliers is holding steady. 2,47,037 fliers on 2330 flights on 19 March 2021. More than 26.3 million fliers since 25 May," he tweeted.
"With rising COVID19 cases in some regions necessitating restrictions & imposition of compulsory RT-PCR tests, it's not yet time to #pawri," he tweeted.
"Pawri ho rahi hai" (the party is on) began trending on the Internet after a video of Pakistani Instagram influencer and content creator Dananeer Mobeen surfaced online and people started using to it to makes memes and send across messages.
Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had informed on Wednesday that the passenger load factor in February has shown increasing trend compared to previous month primarily due to beginning of tourist season.
India reported its biggest daily jump in infections in nearly four months with 40,953 new coronavirus cases on Saturday. Experts have blamed the fresh infection wave on people's relaxed attitude to mask-wearing and other social distancing measures.
India resumed domestic passenger flights on May 25 last year after a gap of two months due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The airlines are currently allowed to operate a maximum of 80 per cent of their pre-COVID-19 domestic flights.
The civil aviation ministry had set the 80 per cent limit on December 3, 2020, without specifying till what date it would remain in place.