Flight attendants get back to work as domestic flights resume

As the Central Government announced the commencement of domestic flights from May 25, flight attendants arrived at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, Terminal-3 on early Monday morning.

"We are a little worried but work comes first. We will get Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits from the airline," said Amandeep Kaur, a flight attendant.

Another flight attendant said that they have been instructed to avoid much interaction with passengers in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. Food and beverage and retail outlets have also opened at the airport as domestic flight services resumed.

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Flight operations were suspended since March 25 after the Centre announced a complete lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19. So far, only domestic flights have been permitted to commence with specific guidelines to be followed by airlines as well as passengers. The flight operations have resumed in 1/3rd capacity across the country on Monday, except in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. The two states will begin operation on May 26 and May 28 respectively. Moreover, Tamil Nadu has capped the number of flight arrivals at 25 in Chennai airport.

While the Centre has not mandated 14-day quarantine for domestic air travel passengers, several states like Punjab, Assam, Jammu-Kashmir, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Chhatisgarh, Andhra Pradesh have mandated 7-14 day quarantine for incoming air passengers - some have extended it to rail as well as bus passengers. 

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SOP for airports

Following the announcement of domestic flight resumption, the Airports Authority of India on Thursday issued Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for airports as part of preparations to commence the commercial flight operations.

As per the guidelines, airports have been advised to ensure that passenger seating arrangement is done in such a manner that allows passengers to maintain social distance. The airlines must block the middle seats and mark them with proper tapes. All passengers also must compulsorily be registered with the Aarogya Setu app on their phones as per the directives.

Apart from this, alternate check-in counters should be used to avoid congestion. The airport staff must be provided PPE kits, face masks as well as hand sanitisers.

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(With inputs from ANI)