Stamping of boarding passes suspended as flight operations set to resume

New Delhi, May 15: In a bid to resume flights, the Government has started to lay the groundwork in terms of safety and policy measures.

The Bureau of Civil Aviation has issued a circular doing away with security personnel stamping boarding passes of flight passengers at airports. "In view of the prevailing situation of COVID-19 pandemic and countermeasures being taken to contain its spread by touch/contact, it has been decided to dispense with the procedure of stamping the passengers' boarding pass, after completion of pre-embarkation security check of the concerned passenger, till further order," the circular read.

Further, a draft standard operating procedure has been circulated among the various stake-holders. These include downloading the Aarogya Setu application, increasing the passenger reporting time at airports and mandatory web check-in.

The final SOP is yet to be issued. Suggestions had been sought on a draft discussion paper from the airlines and airports and the same have now been received, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.

Officials said that it was necessary to also have the states on board. Initially, it was decided to allow flights in the green zones. However, most of the traffic centres in the country are either in the red or orange zone. In the first phase, the government is likely to allow only Air India to operate. This would be mainly aimed at domestic repatriation, which will be on the lines of the Vande Bharat International mission.