The air space unlockdown: Some domestic flights from the 25 of May, says the Minister of Puri

Kerala

To the EARTH for almost two months by the Covid pandemic and the running of the bulls, some domestic commercial passenger flights will resume from the 25 of May, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, said Wednesday. There are indications that only a third of the flights can begin in the first phase of relaxation.

Late on the night of Wednesday, the Ministry of home Affairs modified its guidelines on measures of blockade by the elimination of “domestic air travel of passengers” from the list of prohibited activities. On Sunday, the elaboration of the rules for the fourth phase of the national security blockade, which it had banned domestic flights for passengers to the 31 of May.

But more preparatory work will be necessary. The airlines that operate flights that require the support of the government of the state in providing additional mobility infrastructure, such as buses and taxis, to operate from the airport. Also, detailed Standard operating procedures for the resumption of the operations are still pending.

“The operations of the national civil aviation will recommence in a calibrated way from the Monday, May 25, 2020. All airports and airlines are being told to be ready for operations from May 25. Sops (standard operating procedures) for the movements of the passengers are also being separately issued by the Civil Aviation ministry,” Puri said.

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Certain state governments have already expressed their concern about the resumption of flight operations, given that the major metro centers such as Delhi and Mumbai are in red areas. Only on Tuesday, Puri had alluded to the fact that it was not until the Centre “only to decide on the resumption of domestic flights”.

“In the spirit of cooperative federalism, the government of the states where these flights take off and land must be prepared to allow civil aviation operations,” he said.

The upper part of the airline executives who were scheduled to coincide with the senior officials of the ministries of the night of Wednesday to finalise the modalities of the resumption, along with Standard operating procedures for flight operations.

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Talking to The Indian Express, a senior executive of the airline, said that although the government has indicated that “30-35%” of the flights may be authorized to operate, they were looking for a lower number given that the demand may not be high at this stage.

“Some of the major airports are still in the red areas and the state governments have not allowed the public transport layer. In such a case, people may not want to fly to or from airports,” the executive said. In addition, the airlines also could not find it viable to fly only between the green of the area of airports, as these may not be viable given the weakness of demand.

“While the SOP for the resumption of operations and the details of flights operated is still waiting, we are confident that this much-awaited move will help a large number of passengers by providing them access to the safest and most rapid means of transport,” SpiceJet’s Chairman and the Director-general Ajay Singh said in a statement.

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The government had already floated a draft of Standard operating procedures in the sectors of aviation, including airlines and airports to find information on measures such as the obligation of social distancing in the airports, revisions in the way in which security procedures are carried out to ensure a minimum of contact, the use of masks and personal protective equipment for passengers and employees, among others.

A new set of health checks can also be instituted that could result in longer queues. In addition, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security has already put in place measures like an end to the stamping of boarding passes at the security checkpoint and a higher limit for passengers to carry hand sanitiser liquid on board.

If the rates jump given that airlines are run well below their capacity, Puri had said that a pragmatic approach be adopted. “As only 30 out of every 100 flights may be operating, we don’t want something that sells for 5 rupees to sell for 50 rupees,” he said.

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