Chaos, uncertainty over flights set to start today
■ Only 50 flights to/from Mumbai; Kolkata flights from Thursday
There will be limited operations of commercial domestic flights starting Monday to and from metro airports like Mumbai and Hyderabad. Maharashtra, for instance, has reportedly agreed to only 25 departures and arrivals each from Mumbai from Monday, which means a total of 50 flights. The Delhi-Mumbai route is the busiest in India. There is expected to be only 15 departures and arrivals each from Hyderabad: a total of 30 flights. Also, there may be only about 10 flights to and from Kolkata (20 flights in all) as well as from Bagdogra airport in north Bengal from May 28 onwards. Just one-fifth of earlier summer schedule flights are likely to operate to and from Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh from Tuesday (May 26), while only one-third of flights are expected to operate to other parts of Maharashtra except Mumbai.
Amid confusion due to varying arrival protocols in states that reportedly include institutional quarantine in some and reluctance by some state governments like Maharashtra which wanted few flights to begin with, airlines revised their earlier schedules on Sunday evening to destinations like Mumbai after consulting the civil aviation ministry.
As a result, chaos and uncertainty prevailed throughout Sunday for both airlines and thousands of hapless passengers due to fly on Monday, since passengers — who are to board flights expected to be cancelled or merged on Monday — are expected to be informed by their airlines probably late Sunday night. With various states having tspecific arrival protocols, the passengers would also be advised to check these in advance before travel.
The Union health ministry on Sunday issued domestic travel guidelines for travel by air, train and inter-state bus, saying only asymotomatic (not showing any coronavirus symptoms) will be allowed to travel after thermal screening at departure points. On arrival, they will once again be thermally screened. Those found asymptomatic can go with the advice to “self-monitor their health for 14 days”. If they develop symptoms, they should inform the district authorities. Those who have mild symptoms will have the option of home quarantine or isolation at a Covid care unit, while those with moderate or severe symptoms will be sent to a Covid care centre. Passengers were also “advised” to download the Arogya Setu app on their mobiles.
With passengers arriving from abroad by repatriation flights under the Vande Bharat Mission, guidelines were also issued on Sunday for international arrivals, under which travellers must give an undertaking in advance that they will undergo 14 days of mandatory quarantine. In case of emergencies, including distress, pregnancy or illness, home quarantine may be permitted.
The uncertainty for travellers flying to Mumbai rose after Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray told civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri that for now only the minimum possible domestic flights should be started, but the state government later relented to allow only 25 departures/arrivals each starting Monday.
Late Sunday night, Mr
Puri tweeted it had been “a long day of hard negotiations with various state governments”, adding that domestic flights will begin on Monday, including limited flights to Mumbai, except for Andhra Pradesh where it will be from Tuesday and and West Bengal on Thursday. In Tamil Nadu, he added, there will be a maximum of 25 arrivals in Chennai, but there was no limit on the number of departures.