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Covid: From April 15, meals only on flights with journey time of 2 hours or more
The ministry of civil aviation (MoCA) said that the amendment was made “considering the increasing threat of Covid-19 and its variants -- from the UK, Brazil and South Africa.”
The ministry of civil aviation on Monday amended guidelines for in-flight meal services, ruling such services will be available only on those with a journey time of two hours or more from April 15 amid the rising threat of Covid-19 and three variants of coronavirus. “The airlines, operating on domestic sectors, may provide meals services onboard, wherein the flight duration is two hours or more,” the ministry said in a statement.
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The ministry noted that currently three strains of the SARS-CoV-2, which causes the coronavirus disease, currently in circulation in India have been detected in various countries. “All three variants have demonstrated increased transmissibility, as reported by the World Health Organization. Meanwhile in India, the number of Covid-19 cases are increasing,” it said.
The three variants of the SARS-CoV-2 are the UK, Brazil and South Africa variants.
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“The MoCA, considering the increasing threat of Covid-19 and its variants, has decided to review onboard meal services in domestic flight of operations,” the memorandum further stated.
The services on these flights, however, will be subject to certain conditions. These include using disposable tray set-up, plates and cutlery with no re-use; serving tea, coffee, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage services in disposable cans, containers, bottles or glasses and disposing of all the used plates, cutleries, beverage bottles and glasses in trash bags and carts etc. The crew will have to wear a fresh set of gloves for every meal and beverage service and passengers would be informed about the rules for strict compliance.
The servicing, the statement added, shall be staggered among the adjacent seats “as far as possible.” The rules would be reviewed on a regular basis and necessary amendments made, if needed, on the basis of inputs from the experts, it said.
The civil aviation ministry suspended all flight operations in the country in March 2020 as the first nationwide Covid-19 induced lockdown came into effect. However, in May, domestic carriers were allowed to resume services while suspension of international flights continues. In August, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (MoCA) allowed airlines to serve meals on board.
