Domestic Flights Resume Today

Domestic passenger flights resumed on Monday morning with some amount of confusion in some airports over the cancellation of flights. The resumption came after about two months, with Delhi-Pune and Mumbai-Patna flights being among the first to take to the skies.

Following the nationwide lockdown to curb the transmission of coronavirus pandemic, all scheduled commercial passenger flights had been suspended since March 25.

Union Minister for Civil Aviation had announced last week that domestic flights would operate from Monday. Some passengers who reached Mumbai airport found out that their flights had been cancelled. Similarly, several passengers reached the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi to catch flights to different cities found their flights had been cancelled.

Passengers who reached Delhi from the Pune and Mumbai flights told the media that thermal screening was conducted in Pune and Mumbai, the points of embarkation.

Passengers who reached Patna from Mumbai were seen telling the media that it was a new experience to fly with precautions, social distancing norms, masks and sanitizers. In Chennai, passengers were heard complaining of cancelled flights. Asymptomatic passengers were being advised home quarantine. Swab tests would be taken only in the case of those who have symptoms in Tamil Nadu, media reports said.

Flight operations resumed in Ahmedabad airport with all the necessary precautions. The thermal screening was being done as in other airports. Similar precautions were being taken at the Jammu airport.

States have formulated their own quarantine norms for domestic passengers.