Covid-19: Domestic flights resume from Bengaluru airport, cautiously

Domestic flights of a few airlines resumed from this tech city on a cautious note after they were grounded for over 2 months due to Covid19 induced extended lockdown an official said on MondayThe first flight of Air Asia took off at 535 am to Ranchi in Jharkhand with 173 passengers and an Indigo flight from Chennai was the first to land at 730 am the airport operator official told IANS hereTill 900 am 17 flights departed to various destinations and 5 landed from other citiesAbout 60 departures and 54 arrivals are scheduled for the first day of domestic operations by different airlines from the Kempegowda international airport the official saidWith the Karnataka government making 7day institutional quarantine mandatory for passengers flying from the 6 most Covidhit states many fliers are learnt to be wary of rushing to the city as they dont want to be stranded again in a hotel or hostel booked for a weeklong compulsory stayThe 6 most Covidhit states are Maharashtra Gujarat Tamil Nadu Delhi Rajasthan and Madhya PradeshPassengers from low Covid prevalence cities or states will have to be in 14day home quarantineIn the first five hours of operations since 5 am delays in departures and arrivals occurred due to teething troubles and in following the stringent standard operating procedures stipulated by the staterun Airport Authority of IndiaSome flights including an Air India service to Hyderabad were suddenly cancelled without prior notice to the passengersThe airport operator Bangalore International Airline Ltd BIAL has geared up to handle around 215 air traffic movements a day including 108 departures and 107 arrivalsAirlines have been allotted slots to depart every 10 minutes said an official of a budget carrierAir India Indigo SpiceJet Vistara and Air Asia are among the airlines allowed to operate onethird of their services under the new guidelines including social distancing wearing of mask and washing hands with sanitizersAs the third busiest airport after Mumbai and New Delhi in normal times the countrys first greenfield airport under the publicprivate partnership has been functional even during the extended lockdown with cargo services by domestic and international airlines and inboundoutbound evacuation flights since MarchendAs per standard operating procedure only asymptomatic passengers who have downloaded the Aarogya Setu app and booked the air ticket online will be allowed into the airport on showing an eboarding pass or its printed version at the entrance and after thermal screening and hand washing with sanitiser asserted the officialFor the first time the movement of passengers for departure from parking to boarding will be contactless to maintain physical distancing and avoid risk of touching any surface in the airportEven sanitiserdispensers will be touchfree in the airport terminal So also food and beverage service and retail sales in the departure loungeCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis 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