The flights are going to be resumed from the upcoming Monday and while the procedure might still look still the same on the outside, it’s just not. The reason is that the passengers would face a ton of new protocols, rules and regulations while going for air travel in the current times.
NDMA issues guidelines for air transport passengers. Do's and Don'ts and various precautions to be taken in view #Covid_19. @IndianExpress #thread pic.twitter.com/Z82SDkxi95
— Deeptiman Tiwary (@DeeptimanTY) May 21, 2020
Some of the rules and regulations are as follows:
- One needs to have the Aarogya Setu app installed and it should be showing a green marker. Then only a person would be allowed to board a flight.
- The passengers are requested to arrive two hours in advance as the procedure would be much slower than it used to be. Any last-minute arrivals have higher chances that they would probably miss their flight. The authorities requested passengers to arrive at least 2 hours before departure.
- The passengers are requested to carry fewer items with them and only one bag would be allowed inside the cabin.
- A safety kit including one three-layered surgical masks, face shield, and sanitizers would be provided by the carrier which is to be used by the passengers for the duration of their flights.
- No food would be allowed on the flight except for conditions of medical emergencies.
- There would be no meal distribution by the flight attendants and things like magazines, newspapers, etc. would also not be supplied.
- The lavatory would be functional and is to be used by an individual but its suggested that the individuals should only use it when necessary.
- Post-flight, for the arrival of baggage, individuals would have to wait in batches while standing inside a circle or square shape which would be drawn at an appropriate distance to follow social distancing norms.
- One can only be used to authorize the Taxi service to leave the Airport after they arrive at their destination.
The GoAir have already started booking flights starting this Thursday and the rest of the carriers are going to start from Today onwards, which is Friday. The first flight post lockdown would depart on Monday, after almost 2 months.
Now, moving on to the next important topic, fares for air travel. While the airline carries are in a huge loss for they had no business for the past two months and would hike the prices of Air-Travel at these times, the Government doesn’t want that to happen.
This is why they have settled up a fixed price bracket and guidelines for the carriers under which only they’re allowed to book their flights.
This is a thing of relied on the passengers who would otherwise be burdened with an unimaginable price hike in the ticket bookings. Also, it is the right move undertaking the conditions of the individuals who have been spending and not earning for the last two months, for the condition has worsened individuals in every socio-economic class.
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The post-term effects of COVID-19 would remain for some time and the world would soon start to function and all we have to wait is to see what’s the new normal.