HYDERABAD: In yet another big relaxation of travel restrictions imposed for the nationwide lockdown, the Central government has decided to resume operation of all domestic flights from May 25. Announcing this on his Twitter handle on Wednesday, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Hardeep Puri said that all the domestic civil aviation operations would recommence from Monday, May 25, in a calibrated manner.

The minister further said that all airports and air carriers were being informed to get ready and gear up for the resumption of their operations from next week. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) for passenger movement are also being separately issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, tweeted Puri.

All the flight services in India remain suspended since March 25, 2020 as a consequence of the imposition of the first phase of lockdown to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, coincidentally, the domestic air travel is set to resume exactly two months after being shut.

Now, airlines have been getting ready for the resumption of operations with all the guidelines which were issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Airlines need to be equipped with all the necessary preventive measures for the safe journey of passengers. Providing safety equipment such as masks and gloves to passengers on board and sanitising the entire airport premises on a regular basis are some of them.

The civil aviation minister has earlier said that, as a COVID-19 precautionary measure, there would be some modifications in air travel. He said that no queues would be permitted at airports, asserting that passengers may need to print their boarding tickets at home or else will have to arrive at the airport before the scheduled time.

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