Many people across the nation who are stuck at the places far from their homes can now take a sigh of relief. They will finally be able to meet their family after months of quarantine. The Civil Aviation Minister, Mr. Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted this Thursday that the domestic passenger flight operations are soon to be resumed.
Destinations for the flights to operate
The Ministry of Civil Aviation will be sharing standard operating procedures with all the airports and airlines in order to resume the domestic flight services from Monday, May 25.
Initially, it was deduced that flights will only be allowed between green zone areas but as major cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad continue being the red zones, banning flights here would be a question of viability.
States such as West Bengal and others are raising concerns over this resumption. They are skeptical about resuming the air services in areas greatly impacted by COVID-19. Hence, there is a hold for certain state governments to show the green signal to resume flights in their cities.
“In the spirit of cooperative federalism, the government of states where these flights will take off and land should be ready to allow civil aviation operations,” Hardeep Puri had said.
Will the flying ever be the same?
Talking about how travelling after all this while and amidst a pandemic will be then it’s very obvious that the experience is going to change in many aspects. We’ll have to adopt a new way of living until the virus is completely gone.
Government is going to introduce a whole new set of rules and regulations to adhere to while travelling by air. Use of masks and gloves are going to be mandatory. Arogya Setu app in every person’s mobile except children below 14 is obligatory. Sanitization of passengers’ baggage, thermal screening of passengers before entering into the terminal building, social distancing and many such activities are going to be an integral part of our every journey.
On asking if the traveller will have to go for a 14-day quarantine, Puri said “The quarantine issue will be dealt with in a pragmatic manner. We can’t have 14 days quarantine. It is not practical.”
Also, officials have confirmed that the passengers won’t be needing a separate pass to reach the airport or so. The confirmed ticked of the flight will be enough for inquiry.
Several airlines seemed eager and welcoming about the news. Indigo said it is working with the government to confirm the route of service to its passengers. On the other hand, SpiceJet’s chairman and MD, Ajay Singh said that the resumption will bring a hike in the economy of the country which is at a fragile state currently.
International flights will remain suspended for now. “We will try to start a good percentage of international passenger flights before August,” said Hardeep Singh Puri.