First Step towards ‘New Normal’ of Air Travel

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Air Travel
Benzinga

Air travel in India resumed after almost two months of halt. As Indian entered the list of top 10 countries with the most number of cases, domestic air travel started its operations on Monday. While most flew successfully, a lot of people reported chaos and problems in the procedures. This comes in lieu of State-Centre agreement on Sunday. The agreement concluded allow a graded reopening of flight operations after putting in place local measures. The measure included quarantine and isolation of passengers to avoid spiralling of the infection.

Cancellations and Confusion

The Jakarta Post

Only half of the scheduled operations could resume amid widespread confusion. Some cancellations occurred due to operations and reluctance by some states to allow inbound travellers. Many passengers complained that of not getting any information in advance about the cancellations. An addition to the chaos was the night curfew from 7 pm to 7 am, with many passengers turning to the airport in the night itself. According to aviation industry sources, Monday saw a cancellation of around 630 domestic flights due to the Centre’s Sunday night announcement. The announcement declared that there would be no flights in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. It also indicated limited operations at major airports such as Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad. Air travel hence invited confusion on Monday.

However, those who were able to get on board and travel also reported that the procedures went on smoothly. No food or beverages were distributed on the flight. People remained quiet and distant. However, each will go through a specific quarantine period or whatever guidelines indicated by their state.

Safety Measures

Many safety measures to ensure safety in air travel are being taken. All major airlines such as IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet, Air Asia and others operated 30% of their regular schedules between destinations. Therefore, strictly adhering to the safety protocols set by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

BloombergQuint.

Airports accordingly have been directed to undertake regular disinfection measures, a supply of masks, gloves and sanitisers and thermal scanning. The Centre has put in place a price cap and a floor to ensure that airfares don’t skyrocket at a time like this. As part of safety precautions, ensuring the installation of thermal scanners at all airports and passengers compulsory Arogya Setu app download is helping authorities in contact tracing in case of infections. Those living within the containment zones cannot fly. (Source: The Indian Express)

Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said, “From no domestic passenger flights yesterday to 532 flights and 39,231 passengers today, action has returned to Indian skies. With Andhra Pradesh set to resume operations from tomorrow and West Bengal from 28 May, these numbers are all set to increase further.”

COVID Tally

The nationwide tally of Covid-19 cases neared 1.40 lakh on Monday after a record number of nearly 7,000 people tested positive during the day. The count has quadrupled since May 1 when special trains began ferrying migrants back to their native places. Followed within a week by special flights to bring back Indians and expatriates from abroad. India’s Covid-19 death toll has also crossed the 4,000-mark, marking an over three-fold increase since May 1. While the total number of active cases has more than tripled too in this time period. The number of recovered Covid-19 patients has also grown over six-fold since then to nearly 60,000 now. (Source: India Today)

Air Travel
The Financial Express

Recently, PTI had reported, that over 300 Indian nationals, stuck in the US, also flew home earlier. These passengers weren’t able to fly from the US due to the coronavirus-induced global travel restrictions. They were onboard the fourth special flight from New York under the Vande Bharat Mission. The Air India flight from J F K International Airport to Bengaluru flew on May 25 and had 329 passengers, including two infants, according to officials.

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