New Delhi:
Domestic civil aviation operations will recommence in a calibrated manner from Monday 25th May 2020.
All airports and air carriers are being informed to be ready for operations from 25th May.SOPs for passenger movement are also being separately issued by ministry of civil aviation, tweeted Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
Puri had earlier said that airlines should only open their bookings only after a decision in this regard has been taken by the Government in this regard
Moreover, the governmemnt had issued passenger guidelines as domestic flights may resume soon.Air travellers must wear a mask and other protective gear, wash or sanitise their hands frequently and carry a 350 ml bottle of sanitiser all the time, said AAI.
Aarogya Setu app, wearing a mask, and maintaining social distancing of at least 4 feet was the points highlighted in guidelines.
The Airport Authority of India (AAI) issued six-pointers guidelines on May 16 indicating the resumption of domestic flights operation in the country. The guidelines laid down the rules one needs to follow while choosing to travel by air.
Green status on Aarogya Setu app, web check-in, and temperature checks for all domestic-, departing- and arriving passengers have also been proposed.
It is also suggested having the same set of cabin and cockpit crew as long as possible in order to prevent possible cross contamination.
Not just for passengers, the draft SOP has suggested measures that could be followed by security agencies as well as airport operators, including doing away with identity card checks at airport entry gates and ensuring social-distancing norms.
Another suggestion is to keep three rows of an aircraft vacant for isolating any passenger who has a medical emergency onboard.
The domestic and international flight operations were suspended in March to contain the spread of the virus.
Air India special flights are continuously seen evacuating stranded Indians from foreign countries in India's Vandhe Bharat Mission.
Airlines in India are likely to suffer a revenue loss of 11.2 billion dollars this year leading to 2.9 million jobs at risk as passenger demand falls by 47 per cent due to COVID-19 crisis, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) had said. .
The latest estimates from IATA indicate a worsening of the country impact from coronavirus pandemic and travel restrictions in the Asia Pacific region.
On April 14, IATA released an updated analysis showing that the COVID-19 crisis will see global airline passenger revenues drop by 314 billion dollars in 2020, a 55 per cent decline compared to 2019.
Airlines in the Asia Pacific will see the largest revenue drop of 113 billion dollars in 2020 compared to 2019 (minus 88 billion dollars in March 24 estimate) and a 50 per cent fall in passenger demand compared to 2019 (minus 37 per cent in 24 March estimate).
These estimates are based on a scenario of severe travel restrictions lasting for three months with a gradual lifting of restrictions in domestic markets followed by regional and intercontinental.
"The situation is deteriorating. Airlines are in survival mode. They face a liquidity crisis with a 61 billion dollars cash burn in the second quarter," said Conrad Clifford, IATA's Regional Vice President for Asia-Pacific.