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Aviation ministry relaxes curbs as Covid crisis eases. Details here
Domestic flights resumed in India from October last year, while international flights are scheduled to begin operations again from March 27.
The civil aviation ministry has relaxed some pandemic-related restrictions in the wake of an improvement in the country’s Covid-19 situation. The relaxations have been given to facilitate the smooth conduct of air operations.
In an order issued on Monday, the civil aviation ministry said cabin crew members will no longer be required to wear PPE kits. "Airlines may carry a few additional PPE protective gears, sanitiser and N-95 masks, to handle any respiratory infections related to cases on air, for passengers as well as the crew," the ministry's order read.
However, the use of face masks and maintenance of hand hygiene/sanitiser will continue to remain mandatory.
Also, now airlines would not be required to keep three seats vacant on international flights for medical emergencies.
The third and final relaxation is that security personnel at airports can resume with the pat-down search of passengers, the ministry said. "During the process, the security personnel must wear N-95 mask and sanitise hands after each pat-down search, besides following regular Covid-19 protocols," the order added.
Domestic flights resumed in India from October last year, while international flights are scheduled to begin operations again from March 27.
International flights were suspended in the country because of the fast-spreading Omicron variant of Covid-19, which was the main reason for the third wave of the pandemic in India. The daily infections started declining from January-end.
India has so far reported 4,30,10,971 cases due to Covid-19. On Tuesday, the country reported another low of 1,581 infections in the last 24 hours. This is the third consecutive day that the daily tally was below the 2,000-mark.
