Centre mulling to allow domestic air travel without Covid-19 negative report post vaccination

The Centre is considering a mechanism to allow air passengers who have got both doses of the Covid19 vaccine to travel within the country without a negative test report senior government officials said on MondayCentral ministries including the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare are currently discussing the matter with various other stakeholders they addedCurrently a number of states including Odisha Meghalaya and Maharashtra ask passengers coming from outside to carry a Covidnegative report with them wherein the test sample was taken not more than 72 hours before the journeyDomestic airlines which have already taken a major hit due to the Covid19 pandemic have told the civil aviation ministry that such statelevel requirements are hampering the growth of air travel and the fullyvaccinated passengers should be allowed to travel without Covidnegative reports the officials saidDomestic air travel had reached around three lakh passengers per day by the end of February However the second wave of the pandemic has reduced it to around 85000 passengers per dayAlso ReadMumbai unlocks Restaurants gyms reopen after 2 monthsTo conserve cash and survive this tough time all Indian airlines have taken measures such as cutting the employees salaries firing employees and renegotiating leases with aircraft lessorsSince health is a state subject the Centre is discussing with the states a way through which domestic air passengers who have got both doses of the Covid19 vaccine can be allowed to travel without the test reports the officials saidThe Centre is also in talks with other aviation stakeholders such as airlines airports etc on how it can be done they addedWhile the government is considering allowing domestic air travel without Covid19 test reports for those who have got both doses of the vaccine it has opposed a similar measure for international travelAt a G7 meeting of health ministers on June 4 Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan expressed Indias concern and strong opposition to allow vaccine passports for international travel at this juncture of the pandemicWith vaccine coverage as a percentage of population in developing countries still low compared to developed countries such an initiative could prove to be highly discriminatory he saidMeanwhile on May 28 the airlines were asked by the Centre to operate only 50 per cent of their preCovid19 domestic flights from June 1 instead of 80 per cent permitted earlierThe decision was taken in view of the sudden surge in the number of active Covid19 cases across the country decrease in passenger traffic and passenger load factor occupancy rate the civil aviation ministry said in an orderWhen the government resumed the scheduled domestic flight operations in the country on May 25 last year after a twomonth break the ministry had permitted the carriers to operate not more than 33 per cent of their preCovid domestic servicesThis cap was gradually increased to 80 per cent by December last yearThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever