Photos: India resumes domestic air travel after two month halt

India resumed domestic flight services on May 25 after a gap of two months amid reluctance by various states to open up their airports in view of rising cases of the coronavirus. About 532 flights carried 39,231 passengers on the first day of the resumption of operations, however several last-minute cancellations by airlines triggered chaos leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

Updated on: May 26, 2020 6:38 PM IST

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A CISF personnel screens a traveller at the departure corridor of Indira Gandhi International Airport, in New Delhi on May 25. Passenger jets took to the air again yesterday, two months after India grounded domestic flights to halt the spread of the coronavirus in March but only half the scheduled operations could resume amid widespread confusion and reluctance by some states to allow inbound travellers. (Vipin Kumar / HT Photo)

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A traveller’s luggage is sanitized before entering Pune International Airport on May 25. The number of flights operating across airports have been capped, with the Centre allowing only a third of domestic operations amid a national lockdown triggered by the pandemic, reported HT. (Shankar Narayan / HT Photo)

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Flight attendants wearing face shields walk out of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, in Ahmedabad on May 25. (SAM PANTHAKY / AFP)

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A traveller is thermal screened before being allowing into Sri Guru Ramdas Jee International Airport in Amritsar. Union civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said 532 flights carried 39,231 passengers on the first day of the resumption of operations. (Sameer Sehgal / HT Photo)

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A long queue of people waits to enter Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, in Mumbai. While flight operations resumed early in the day, Maharashtra government issued detailed guidelines for travellers later, mandating 14-day home quarantine, with such people required to be stamped on the left hand. (Francis Mascarenhas / REUTERS)

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Passengers seen maintaining social distance at Birsa Munda Airport amid the lockdown in Ranchi. Three states — Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu have requested the Union government to reconsider the decision to allow domestic flight operations to resume as they believe it could lead to a spike in infections. (Diwakar Prasad / HT Photo)

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Vendors wear protective masks and face shields while working at a cafe in the Indira Gandhi International Airport. Flights to and from West Bengal will resume on May 28 and those operating from Andhra Pradesh will commence from May 26. (T. Narayan / Bloomberg)

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Airport staff in PPE coveralls help wheelchair using travellers exit the arrivals area after landing at Jaiprakash Narayan International Airport in Patna on May 25. (Santosh Kumar / HT Photo)

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Passengers queue to board an IndiGo plane for domestic travel at Chennai airport on May 25. IndiGo said on Monday it planned to fly just over 200 daily flights until May 31. Before the outbreak of Covid-19, which has killed at least 345,000 people around the world and bound millions to their homes, an estimated 2,700 flights operated in India daily. (PTI)