Passengers flood airline booking sites with queries, KIA all set

Quarantine on everyone's mind

As hundreds of passengers flooded ticket-booking sites with quarantine-related queries countrywide, the Kempegowda International Airport awaited the arrival of the first domestic flight early Monday morning.

Data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) indicated that an estimated 16% of all flight departures nationwide would be from KIA, while about 6% of the arrivals would be to the city. However, the schedules could fluctuate depending on bookings, cancellations, and decisions by multiple airlines. EaseMyTrip.com reported that its customer care was flooded with queries from its customers enquiring about the quarantine rules post their air travel.

The disconnect between the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) stating that the passengers will not be required to quarantine post-travel and individual state chief Ministers announcing the rules for quarantine post-arrival have left people confused.

Although the exact number of flights was not immediately available, IndiGo was expected to operate about 50 flights to and from KIA. Air India was scheduled to operate at least 12 flights to and from Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi. SpiceJet was scheduled to operate 34 flights to multiple destinations.

Meanwhile, at KIA, in addition to the social-distancing and hygienic arrangements, BIAL announced measures at its F&B outlets.

Disinfection of all food contact surfaces after every use, sanitising stores every 30 minutes, mandatory gloves for dish-washing staff, sterilised kitchenware, and de-rostering of employees from hotspot areas were among the steps. Both food and beverages could be pre-ordered (by using the ‘FSTR by BLR’ tab on https://www.bengaluruairport.com ) or through self-ordering FSTR kiosks or by scanning the QR code displayed across the terminal.

Passengers could also have it delivered at a location of choice at the terminal.