I had to cancel at least two trips (6 tickets I paid for but never used) scheduled for the period that would turn into India’s four (so far) lockdowns. So I for one am relieved and happy that domestic flights will resume soon. The announcements regarding the resumption of select domestic flights and the new guidelines for travel were made recently.
Domestic air travel within India will start soon. Instructions for standard operating procedures are being issued separately.
Flights along some routes will resume from Monday, 25 May 2020 which is before the actual completion of the fourth lockdown period.
To ensure that aviation companies neither do not overcharge passengers, the civil aviation ministry has issued orders fixing the minimum and maximum fares. To begin with a few flights between major cities will be operational. The order also states that these will be increased in a calibrated manner.
Passengers will have to report earlier, download the arogya setu app, undergo thermal screening, and will not be allowed cabin baggage. Security changes will mean additional metal detectors, no frisking or stamping of boarding passes.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has issued these guidelines for passengers who will be travelling by air.
There are some categories of people who are advised not to fly. People over 80 years of age will not be permitted to fly just yet.
As of now, information about these routes is available.
Airport authorities are preparing for the resumption of domestic flights by making floor markings, stepping up sanitization and so on.
Some Indian states like Assam will be requiring air travelers to observe mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Those who were out of town and unable to get home, businesses and others who can afford air travel are happy to see a resumption of domestic services.
Why are regular trains not starting sooner? The logic behind resuming air travel where there is more contact: in the enclosed terminal, at check-in, during security and in the aircraft itself, has escaped many.
This cartoon from Manjul indicates that it will be hard for the aviation sector to navigate in these COVID-19 times.
Satish Acharya's pathos-laden cartoon tells us a biting truth about ourselves. Even as domestic flights are set to resume in India, lakhs of Indian workers are still stranded; still struggling just to get back home. The image perfectly encapsulates the marked lack of empathy from the authorities as well as our so-called 'balconied' classes for the plight of the weakest and most marginalised among us.
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