Domestic flights to resume from May 25, SOPs being prepared for passenger movement

Pune, May 20, 2020: Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri today said that the domestic civil aviation operations will recommence in a calibrated manner from Monday 25th May 2020. All airports and air carriers are being informed to be ready for operations from 25th May. Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for passenger movement is also being separately issued by the ministry, Puri tweeted.

Since March 25, all domestic flights have been banned due to Coronavirus outbreak. The international flights are banned since March 22. The number of corona infected in the country has increased to 1 lakh 7 thousand 607. Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri said on Wednesday that domestic flights will start from May 25. All airports and airlines are ready.

Some airlines have started booking for the journey from June 1. This information has been revealed through sources. Significantly, due to the Coronavirus epidemic, commercial flight service is banned until 31 May. However, a SpiceJet spokesperson said that their bookings for international flights are closed until June 15. Commercial flights across the country were suspended from March 25 to prevent the outbreak of the Coronavirus.

“Domestic airlines have opened bookings for their flights since June,” a source said on Monday. Sources in IndiGo and Vistara said that they are taking bookings for domestic flights. A SpiceJet spokesperson said, “Our international booking is closed until June 15.” There were no official comments from IndiGo, Vistara and GoAir about booking starts. Sudhakar Reddy, president of the Air Passenger Association of India (APAI), said on Monday that some airlines have started booking.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that by 9 am today, samples of more than 25 lakh people have been examined. At the same time, more than one lakh 8 thousand 121 tests were done in the last 24 hours.