AAI issues guidelines for domestic flying, not final as yet says ministry

New Delhi, May 21: The Airport Authority of India has issued guidelines for domestic travel. The Civil Aviation Ministry has, however, said that these are not final.

Passengers will have to report two hours in advance and only those have a departure scheduled in the next four hours will be allowed to enter the terminal building, the Air Authority of India has said.

The ministry, however, said that the final guidelines would be issued later during the day.

The AAI would have to follow guidelines decided by the ministry and the DGCA, reports said.

Domestic air travel is scheduled to resume on May 25. "All airports and air carriers are being informed to be ready for operations from 25th May. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for passenger movement are also being separately issued by the civil aviation ministry," Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri said in a tweet.

The guidelines issued by the AAAP said that all passengers will have to register on the Aarogya Setu application and the same would be verified by the CISF Security at the airport. The app is however not mandatory for children below the age of 14, the guidelines said. Further state governments will have to ensure availability of public transport and private cabs to ensure connectivity for passengers to the airport.

For commuting to and from the airport, both by staff and passengers, only the personal vehicles or select authorised taxi services with restricted seating will be permitted. On arrival, an announcement would be made in the aircraft by the airline for deplaning passengers in batches to maintain social distancing norms.

At each point of interaction with the passengers, the airport operator should try to provide a glass shield or any other transparent separation as far as practically possible for additional protection of the airport personnel and the passengers, the AAI also said.

The passengers may have to quarantine depending on the norms of the state. On arrival at the destination airport, passengers will have to adhere to such health protocols prescribed by the states and UTs, the guidelines also said.