Air India expects normal operations within a day or two

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: With ticket bookings slowly picking up, Air India on Sunday operated about 50% of its flights, two days after the pilots' strike ended.

The airline expected normal operations within a day or two, an Air India spokeswoman said in Mumbai. The airline operated around 60% of its flights from the city, while overall it is only about 50%. Air India operates over 50 flights from Mumbai daily and over 320 across the country.

In Delhi, AI spokeseprson Kamaljit Rattan said the "passenger load is gradually picking up after we opened bookings on Saturday".

On Saturday, AI resumed fresh bookings after a virtual shutdown due to the 10-day strike, which was called off Friday night following an understanding reached between the striking pilots and the civil aviation ministry after protracted negotiations.

Air India had suspended fresh bookings on the third day of the strike and was operating about 10% of its flights across its domestic network.