Domestic flights to spread wings

New Delhi: Air India may operate special domestic flight service to carry those who are stranded across states.

The special services are scheduled between 19 May and 2 June. Most of the services are from Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, and Amritsar.  Applicable ticket fares have not yet  been fixed. Booking for the tickets may commence soon after the final decision of the civil aviation ministry.

12 services are scheduled to operate connecting Cochin International Airport. 173 services from Delhi, 40 from Mumbai, 25 from Hyderabad also are scheduled.  Cochin will have services from Delhi and Mumbai.  No services are scheduled to Kerala from other cities in the country during the scheduled period.

The carriers had asserted that services to main cities should be started in the first phase and services to other smaller towns would cause financial loss.

The central government had issued draft guidelines to the aviation companies before starting the services, as below:

• Those who are above 80 years will not be permitted to travel.
• Arogya Setu App is mandatory
• Passengers should reach the airport three hours before the departure
• Check-in counters should be closed one hour before departure
• Mask is compulsory
• Those who have symptoms of sickness should not be allowed to travel
• Last three lines of the flights should be left vacant to shift the passengers who show any symptoms of Covid 19 during the trip
• Cabin baggage shall not be allowed. A baggage of less than 20 Kgs shall be allowed as check-in baggage
• No in-flight food will be distributed