Over 500 flights take off, but states create plane confusion at airports

Maharashtra clears air, says short-term visitors exempt from isolation

It was a day of delight and despair for passengers as domestic airlines resumed flights on Monday after two months of suspension. While more than 39,000 people flew on Day One, several hundred remained stranded due to last minute cancellations.

Even as airlines were supposed to operate 33 per cent of the approved summer schedule, they were forced to rework their itineraries late Sunday evening following many rounds of discussions between the Centre and states. The original schedule turned upside down as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, allowed operations with only limited number of flights…

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Industry sources estimated the average passenger load on Monday at around 55 per cent, with IndiGo operating half the total flights. For some flights, fewer than 10 passengers turned up. Alliance Air’s Delhi-Jaipur and Delhi-Dehradun flights flew with two and three passengers only, executives confirmed.

While flights from Delhi to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Northeast states saw 100-plus passengers each, Bengaluru and Mumbai-bound flights from the Capital had lower number of passengers. Short-duration visitors, including business travellers, will not be required to undergo isolation in Maharashtra, the state said in its standard operating procedures for domestic air travel on Monday…Read More

Centre reverses stance, allows domestic flights to resume on May 25

Aviation minister’s tweet caught airlines and airports off guard as they were preparing for a resumption from June 1

Reversing its recent stance, the government on Wednesday announced that domestic airline operations would resume on May 25, more than two months after all flights were halted. Earlier this week, the Union home ministry, while announcing the extension of lockdown, had prohibited air transport till May 31.

“Domestic civil aviation operations will recommence in a calibrated manner from Monday, May 25. All airports and air carriers are being informed to be ready for operations from May 25,” Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri announced in a Twitter message, adding that the final SOP (standard operating procedure) on resumption was being framed by his ministry. Passengers will have to web check-in and will not be allowed to carry luggage inside the aircraft cabin except for a laptop or a purse. Also, airlines will have to provide a mask, face shield and sanitizers to passengers at the time of boarding, it is learnt.

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Although discussed earlier, the new norms don’t talk about keeping the middle seat vacant to ensure social distancing. India grounded domestic air transport starting March 24, a day before the lockdown came into effect, to curb the spread of the coronavirus. International flights, which were stopped on March 22, remain shut. Puri’s tweet caught airlines and airports off guard as they were preparing to resume operations from June 1. But, later in the evening civil aviation secretary held a meeting with chief executive officers of airlines to discuss service resumption plans.