Domestic flights set to resume from today across India, excepting in Andhra, Bengal
May 24, 2020
New Delhi [India], May 25 : Domestic flight operations will resume across the country from Monday except in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal after two months of suspension due to coronavirus-induced lockdown.
Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Hardeep Singh Puri, on Sunday announced that following a "long day of hard negotiations", domestic flights will recommence across the country.
All scheduled commercial passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 25 when the Narendra Modi government imposed a lockdown to contain the virus.
Giving details regarding the plan, Puri said there will be limited flights from Mumbai and as per approved one-third schedule from other airports in the state.
"Limited operations to West Bengal will commence on May 28, 2020," the minister said in a tweet.
"As per the request of state government, operations in Andhra Pradesh will recommence on a limited scale from 26 May. For Tamil Nadu, there will be a maximum 25 arrivals in Chennai but there's no limit on the number of departures. For other airports in TN, flights will operate as in other parts of the country," he further said.
Last week, Puri had announced that the domestic flight operations will resume from May 25, saying that all airlines and airports were ready.
Following the announcement, the Airports Authority of India on Thursday issued (SOP) for airports as part of preparations for the recommencement of domestic commercial flight operations.
According to the SOPs, airports have been advised to ensure that passenger seating arrangement shall be done in such a manner so as to maintain social distancing among passengers using chairs by blocking those seats that are not to be used, with proper markers/tapes.
All passengers also must compulsorily be registered with the Aarogya Setu app on their phones as per the directives.
Apart from this, alternate check-in counters should be used to avoid congestion. The airport staff must be provided Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits, face masks etc, and should also be provided with hand sanitisers.
