NEW DELHI: A day after the announcement of domestic flights operation, Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Thursday released the Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) for airports.
Calibrated resumption of flights set to begin from May 25 onwards. The passengers will have to reach the airport minimum two hours prior to departure and only those passengers will be allowed to enter the terminal who have their flight scheduled in the next four hours.
Moreover, all passengers will have to wear protective gear such as gloves and masks and all passengers above the age of 14 years of age must be registered on the Aarogya Setu App. The registration on the app is not mandatory for passengers below the age of 14 years.
Besides, airports have been instructed to ensure thermal screening before the passenger enters the terminal and only those passengers who are marked green on Aarogya Setu can enter the terminal.
It also asked to discourage the use of trolleys and airport operators must make appropriate arrangement for sanitisation of passengers' baggage before entry into the terminal building.
Traffic in kerb area or city side or car parking area should be strictly monitored in coordination with the traffic police or the CISF to prevent congestion and maintain social distancing, as per the SOP.
"Use of trolleys to be discouraged in departure or arrival area. However, select few passengers who require trolley due to genuine reasons will be provided on request basis only," it stated.
Besides, the state governments have been asked to ensure adequate availability of taxis and public transport at the airports.
Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday had announced that domestic civil aviation operations will recommence in a calibrated manner from May 25 Monday and it has been said that no seats will be kept vacant during the commercial operation.
Nearly 650 aircraft in the Country are grounded as domestic flights have been suspended in India since March 25 after the nationwide lockdown was announced.
Bookings are expected to start tomorrow for the flights starting May 25. It is expected that most of the airports will remain operational but the number of flights will be reduced substantially on a route and nearly 30 % will be operated initially.
The AAI instructed airport operators that all entry gates of the terminal building must be kept open in order to avoid crowding.
Mats or carpets soaked with bleach - sodium hypochlorite solution - must be placed at the entrance of the terminal building to disinfect shoes, the SOP said.
"For passengers with special needs, unaccompanied minor, etc, the handling stuff must be in full protection gear with pre-sanitised wheelchairs," it noted.
Newspapers and magazines must not be provided anywhere in the terminal building, the SOP said, adding that all food, beverages and retail outlets must be opened with proper COVID-19 precautions.
The AAI instructed airports to "use open air ventilation instead of central air conditioning".
"At boarding gates, passengers should be allowed to board in batches as per seating arrangement to avoid crisscrossing inside the aircraft," the SOP said.
According to senior government officials, the government is likely to put a floor price and a cap price on all airfares in order to avoid predatory pricing and high ticket fares.
Moreover, they said the government is likely to permit only around 30 per cent of domestic flights initially.
Puri did not mention on Tuesday from when international passenger flights would resume.
(With PTI Inputs)