Goa International Airport gets handful of passengers on Day 1 of flight resumption amid COVID-19 lockdown
May 25, 2020
Panaji (Goa) [India], May 25 : Only a handful of passengers were seen at the Goa International Airport here on Monday, the first day of resumption of flights, which have been allowed amid Lockdown 4.0, ending on May 31.
"As today is the first day of flight operations after two months of lockdown, the arriving strength has been low. However, I believe that in coming days the pace will pick up," said Gagan Malik, Director, Goa Airport, while speaking to ANI.
He informed that on Monday only three flights will be coming and there will be only three departures.
"Earlier, we were supposed to have 15 flights but at the last minute, there was some rescheduling. Today, we are primarily connecting Delhi and Bengaluru. From Mumbai, we are not getting any flights till May 30," said Malik.
With the resumption of flight operations, happiness could clearly be seen on the faces of passengers.
"I used to work in a hotel cafe. I had been waiting for the past two months to reach my home in Bihar. Today I am extremely happy to finally be able to reach home," said Suraj. He would first have to reach Delhi for his next journey to his home state.
Echoing similar sentiments, Gokalanand Tiwari, resident of Uttarakhand, told ANI: "I missed the first train to Uttarakhand. Though the railway officials had said that there would be another train to Uttarakhand, it did not come. Today I am happy that with the resumption of flight operations at least I will be able to reach Delhi. From Delhi, I will have to take another transport to reach Uttarakhand."
Speaking about the measures taken as per the guidelines set forth by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Malik said: "It is being ensured that everyone maintains social distance and wears masks at all times. I want to thank the passengers for following the norms themselves."
"All the arriving passengers have three options: if they are having negative COVID-19 report in the last 48 hours, then they need not go for any test or home quarantine," he said.
"If they have a home here, then they can opt for home quarantine after filling the self-declaration form and getting stamped on their hands. Besides, for the business executives and other people, Goa government has made the arrangements for their tests. They can carry out their businesses after filling the self-declaration forms with all details," added Malik.
