Domestic Flights in India to Resume Services, Confused Travelers Flood Social Media Platforms with Queries

Domestic flights in India will resume services in a phased manner from tomorrow. However, with different directives coming in from states and the centre, travelers seem to have been left in a lurch. Several passengers who are naturally worried about the uncertainty regarding their flights have been flooding social media with queries.

What seems to have made matters worse is the fact that the Government of Maharashtra seems unsure about restarting domestic flights. “I have my flight on 25th May from Mumbai to Chandigarh. It is quite frustrating and depressing for us as people as they are raising concerns just one day before. Request them to please allow domestic flights from Maharashtra,” says Ayushi Tomar on Twitter.

“Please provide clarity / final decision taken on domestic flights taking off. There are tickets booked and flights scheduled from tomorrow morning and citizens have the right to know much in advance than a few hours before taking off. Kindly confirm on priority,” says Bhavna Saincher.

There seem to be concerns regarding the paid quarantine issue, and travelers are seeking clarity regarding that as well. “Hello, This is in regard to boarding the evacuation flight from Delhi to Brussels on 9th June. I stay in Hyderabad and if I take the domestic flight to Delhi from Hyderbad on 9th morning June, will I be allowed to board the Brussels flight or will I be quarantined in Delhi,” asks Nithin Bharadwaj. “Sir what is the state guidelines for quarantine for people coming via domestic flights can you please confirm?” asks another traveler on Twitter.

What is Known about the Guidelines for Domestic Flights As of Now

Some of the guidelines that have been confirmed by the Airports Authority of India as of now are as follows:

1. Contactless and digitized air travel will be the new normal.
2. Downloading of Aarogya Setu app to be made mandatory.
3. Web check-in should be done by passengers, and all documents must be kept on the phone. A print-out of the boarding pass needs to be taken at home.
4. A security officer standing behind a glass shield will check all the documents on the passengers’ phones.
5. Thermal scanners will be installed to monitor the temperatures of all passengers.
6. Travelers will need to scan the QR code on their phones to collect their boarding pass and luggage tags through a kiosk.
7. Automatic hand sanitizing dispensers will be placed in airports.

About Domestic Flights from Maharashtra

The Chief Minister’s Office of Maharashtra has just informed through its social media platform that CM Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray has spoken to the Civil Aviation Minister of State Hardeep Singh Puri. “He communicated his views that till the time MIAL plans and fine tunes airport operations, they should initiate minimum possible domestic flights from Maharashtra from May 25th which are purely emergent in nature like for international transfer passengers, medical emergencies, students, and cases on compassionate grounds,” tweeted the official account of CMO Maharashtra.