New Delhi: Domestic flights will resume operations in a calibrated manner from Monday, over two months after it was grounded due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Government sources told ETV Bharat that all the airports in the country are expected to be open and the flight operations will operate with one-third the schedule.
According to sources, bookings for the flights, which will begin from May 25, are set to start from Thursday. However, the final decision will be taken after the airlines' executives meeting that is scheduled tomorrow.
"If an airline operates 21 flights between Delhi and Mumbai in a day, it will now be able to operate seven," he added.
The aviation regulator Director General of Civil Aviation had earlier suspended all domestic and international flights till May 31, owing to the lockdown. Commercial flight operations in the country have been suspended since March 25 when the government first imposed a nationwide lockdown.
Sources in Delhi airport and private airlines told ETV Bharat that they are yet to receive the final standard operating procedure (SOP) regarding the resumption of flights.
"This resumption will go a long way in lifting the overall economic sentiment in the country. While the SOP for the resumption of operations and details of flights to be operated is still awaited, we are sure that this much-awaited move will help a large number of passengers by providing them access to the safest and quickest means of transport," said SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh.
"SpiceJet is all geared up to resume operations post lockdown and is committed to providing the highest level of cleanliness and safe, secure and healthy flying experience to its passengers and staff. We will strictly adhere to social distancing norms and SOPs laid down by the Government to ensure the best, the cleanest and the most sanitised flying experience,” he added.
An IndiGo spokesperson said that we are fully prepared with safety measures with respect to COVID-19 across all our passenger and CarGo interfaces during their journey with us. "We will share further details and guidelines for passengers, in line with the advice from the authorities over the next few days," she added.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has already issued a brief guideline for passengers. AAI guidelines stated that the passengers need to mandatorily download the Aarogya Setu app, do a web-check in and carry a print out of their boarding pass before heading to the airport to catch a flight. It also said that air travellers must maintain a distance of four feet from co-passengers, wear a mask and other protective gear.
Last week, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security had suspended the stamping of boarding passes and said that the passengers can also carry a 350-ml liquid hand sanitizer bottle in their cabin baggage.
