New Delhi, May 28 (IANS): The re-commencement of flight services to West Bengal on Thursday gave a boost to the overall domestic operations and passenger numbers in India.

Consequently, passenger flight services now connect all the major metro cities amongst other destinations in India.

Bengal had barred flight services till May 28.

Besides, connecting all the major metros, the addition of West Bengal also gave a boost to the overall flight and passenger numbers in India.

Till 5 p.m. on Thursday, airports across the country handled a total of 677 aircraft movements with 55,666 passenger footfalls.

On Twitter, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that 367 departures and 310 arrivals took place till 5 p.m. on Thursday.

The Centre has allowed limited passenger flights -- about one-third of the summer schedule -- to operate between metros and other destinations from May 25.

Passenger air services were suspended on March 25 due to the nationwide lockdown to check the spread of Covid-19.