Maharashtra faces the stiff challenge of managing approximately upto 25 per cent of the international arrivals in the country, at the three airports in the state, before the ban on these flights landing in India begins on March 22. The ban will be on till March 29.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray shared the concern with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday in a video conference. He told the PM that the passengers would arrive at Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur until March 22, from where they would try to reach home by whatever vehicles are available. "Stopping these passengers, quarantining and treating them (for the COVID-19 infection if any) will be a great challenge for us. We need to find a solution," Thackeray told the PM, asking the premier to expedite measures to stop the transmission from entering the third stage.