Domestic flight services to commence today

25 May 2020 by Staff Reporter

Amid Covid-19 induced lockdown-4, domestic flight services to the Swami Vivekananda Airport in Raipur will commence from May 25, with the Chhattisgarh government announcing a detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the arriving passengers.

The SOP states that foreign residents interested in visiting Chhattisgarh must first register at http://epass.cgcovid19.in/. The State Nodal officer will collect their details and share it with the concerned District Collectors.

Those returning from a foreign country should submit a certificate that they underwent the mandatory 14-day quarantine after reaching India. Such passengers will be allowed to go for home quarantine. Those not having such a certificate will be shifted to a paid quarantine centre.

Each passenger will undergo a health test at the airport. Those who show symptoms for coronavirus will be shifted to an isolation kiosk at the airport. They will be then sent to isolation centres under paid quarantine in an ambulance or a dedicated vehicle.

All baggage and hand bags will be sanitized.

Physical distancing will have to be maintained at the airport and while being transported for quarantine as well as at the centre.

On Saturday, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel wrote to Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri seeking a SOP for the domestic flights.

A schedule for the domestic flights has been announced till June 30.

Swami Vivekananda Airport Director Rakesh Sahai has said that Indigo, Air India and Vistara flights to Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata will operate from Raipur.

“The Raipur flight to Delhi will be at 0940 hours and 2000 hours while the Hyderabad flight timing is 1100 hours, Bengaluru flight time is 1525 hours and for Kolkata it is 0845 hours, he said.

The Raipur administration has identified Jainam Manas Bhawan, Niranjan Dharamshala (both on VIP Road), Manaus Reality, Ring Road No 1, Changorabhata, Agrasen Dham VIP Road Fundhar and Salasar Raipur as quarantine centres for those arriving by flights.