Even After Lockdown Ends, Some Social Distancing Measures Will Remain In Place Across Airports
The ongoing 21-day nationwide lockdown is set to end on April 14, and if the government doesn't announce an extension, things could go back to 'being normal' again soon.?
But the operations at airports in the country seem to have changed forever due to the social distancing norms which were put in place due to the COVID-19 outbreak.?
According to a report, airport authorities are now planning to implement some social distancing measures which were put in place at the Delhi Airport during the evacuation from various countries as standard processes ever after the lockdown is over.?
A few of the measures that are expected to be implemented at all airports once the operation is live include keeping the middle seats and the last three rows empty to minimise contact between passengers.
Airlines will also be asked to minimise onboard service to prevent close contact between the cabin crew and passengers.Pre-packaged food will be kept on the seats before boarding while airlines could also allow passengers to carry their own food. Other measures will include boarding of just three rows at a time. Airports will be required to ensure a two-metre distancing during check-in and security check.?
There is also a proposal to ban duty-free shopping at airports to reduce crowding.?
Though there is no clarity yet on if the lockdown will end on 14th, all major airlines except Air India are taking domestic bookings for dates post April 14. Air India is taking bookings for dates after April 30 only.?
According to reports, the government is likely to allow operations to start in a phased manner for both international as well as domestic flights to prevent excessive crowding at airports.?
As of now, only cargo flights, offshore helicopter operations, medical evacuation flights and special flights permitted by Indian aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) are permitted to operate during this lockdown.The Delhi Airport on Tuesday said it has handled over 50 evacuation flights, transporting over 10,000 stranded foreign nationals to their respective countries, to date since the lockdown went into effect.?
Since the suspension of all commercial passenger aircraft operations, Delhi Airport has been operational 24x7 despite the suspension of commercial operations, due to the 21-day lockdown following the coronavirus outbreak, said Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) CEO, Videh Kumar Jaipuriar said.?
In the last 14 days, the airport has remained functional to handle cargo and evacuation flights, operated by countries like Japan, Norway, Germany, Afghanistan, Poland, Russia and France to repatriate their nationals stranded in India due to lockdown, DIAL said.? ? ? ??
