Aviation players have sought a 30 per cent reduction aeronautical charges from the government as the industry battles the ravages of coronavirus that has seen a flurry of cancelled flights.

Aeronautical charges are the fees charged by the government for providing various services such as route navigation.

In a letter written to the aviation ministry, the Board of Airlines Representatives in India (BALR), which represents both national and international carriers, has requested for such changes to ensure airlines continue operations with low passenger load factors — an indicator of occupancy.

“The current situation is causing a lot of concern, due to flight cancellations and travel restrictions, imposed by various countries and it is becoming difficult to sustain flight operations, thereby affecting the load factors of all airlines,” the BALR has said.

The passenger numbers have declined considerably, which has badly affected the cash flow of the airlines, the BALR said.

“We would, therefore, like to appeal to your office to offer relief measures to the airlines, by means of 30 per cent reduction in aeronautical charges for a period of six months,” the airlines said, adding that these charges, if reviewed onwards, will assist the airlines in continuing the existing operations at lower passenger occupancy.

In the last one month, over 600 international flights to and from India have been cancelled for varying periods. Close to 500 of these were by foreign carriers and the rest by Indian operators flying overseas.

The number of cancelled international flights is only expected to rise after India announced it will be suspending all visas, except for a few categories such as diplomatic and employment-related ones, till April 15.

The count of weekly flights cancelled by domestic airlines is more than 90.