West Bengal to Resume Domestic Flights from Tomorrow, Issues New Set of Guidelines for Passengers

After West Bengal government's decision to delay flight operations in the state, domestic flight operations are set to begin at the Kolkata Airport tomorrow.

Domestic flights operations in India resumed after being banned for two months due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in India. As flight operations are set to begin in the state, the West Bengal has issued a fresh set of guidelines for all the passengers who are landing.

Here are a few highlights of the guidelines –

- All passengers must undergo health screening at the point of departure post which only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to board the aircraft.

- On arrival, health screening will be held at the airport. Asymptomatic patients will be directed to observe 14 days of home quarantine.

- Sample of the symptomatic passengers will be taken to the nearest health facility to be tested.

- Passengers with moderate or severe symptoms will be admitted to the dedicated COVID-19 care facility and managed accordingly.

- All passengers must fill out a declaration form and submit it on arrival at the airport.

On Monday as the flight service resumed for the first time in two months, around 630 flights were cancelled at the last moment due to state restrictions.

Consequently, many passengers reached the airports on Monday only to be told by the airline staff that their flights have been cancelled. Many people took to social media to vent their anger. Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Monday evening, "From no domestic passenger flights yesterday to 532 flights and 39,231 passengers today, action has returned to Indian skies. With Andhra Pradesh set to resume operations from tomorrow & West Bengal from 28 May, these numbers are all set to increase further."

According to a source, on May 22, bookings had opened for around 1,100 domestic flights for Monday. The airlines, which were allowed to operate one-third of their pre-lockdown domestic services, have been busy since Sunday night to further rework their flight schedules. The first flight on Monday took off from Delhi for Pune at 4.45 am under strict regulations recommended by civil aviation authorities. The first flight from Mumbai was to Patna at 6.45 am.