Lockdown 4.0: Flight attendants back to duty as domestic services resume

Domestic flight operations resumed across the country from today except in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, after two months of suspension

Flight attendants on early Monday morning arrived at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, Terminal-3, as domestic flight operations resumed from Monday.

"We are a little worried but work comes first. We will get Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits from the airline," Amandeep Kaur, a flight attendant, told ANI.

Another flight attendant said that they have to do less interaction with passengers now in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

Food and beverage and retail outlets were opened at the airport as domestic flight services resumed.

Domestic flight operations resumed across the country from today, except in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, after two months of suspension due to coronavirus-induced lockdown.

All scheduled commercial passenger flights were suspended in India since March 25 when the Centre imposed a lockdown to contain the virus.

Meanwhile, Cyberabad Traffic Police has allowed movement of taxis/cabs to and fro Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Telangana.

"As domestic flights starting tomorrow, taxis/cabs (Ola, Uber, Meru, Sky, etc) to and fro RGIA are allowed round the clock. If you are going to or coming from airport, you can use ORR during day time only. Between 7 pm to 7 am (night time), you need to take other routes," Cyberabad Traffic Police tweeted.

"Public are allowed to travel to and fro airport round the clock in their personal/hired vehicles along with boarding pass/flight ticket/booking details," the police said.

In Punjab, all inbound air travellers of Punjab landing at Chandigarh airport shall be mandatorily tested for Covid-19 upon arrival, said Mohali District Magistrate (DM) Girish Dayalan.

"All such persons shall be required to undergo mandatory home quarantine for a period of 14 days from the date of arrival. In case the test comes out to be positive, the person shall be lifted to an isolation facility. If tested positive, they will be shifted to an isolation facility. If negative, they shall still observe home quarantine for 14 days," Dayalan said.

He further said that the Station Managers of the respective airlines shall make available to the nodal officer -- lists of passengers in the flight whose destination is Punjab well in advance.

In Tripura, domestic air operations will not resume from Monday as all flights operating to and from Agartala stand cancelled, according to Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport's officials.

Services were halted as all the flights are connected to Kolkata and the Kolkata airport is not available till May 27, in view of cyclone Amphan.

Director, Biju Patnaik International Airport, VV Rao, in Odisha's Bhubaneswar said that at least two flights may be cancelled due to some issues at Kolkata, Mumbai and other places.

"We have done inspection and trial run with all stakeholders today evening and went off successfully. All stakeholders trying their level best to ensure touch-free and safe passage of air travel for passengers," he said.