Pune to Prayagraj air travel in Coronavirus lockdown

Shikha Chaurasia

Pune, June 11, 2020: As air travel is now enabled in India, many people who were stranded or wanted to travel are now able to do so. But, the norms for travelling are not the same. There are many other additional and essential rules which travellers have to adhere to compulsorily.

Here, we have a story from a traveller who recently travelled from Pune to Prayagraj. His name is Ashish Singh (29), Assistant Manager, Business Development at Allygrow Technologies Pvt Ltd. Sharing his experience, he said, “I would like to share my experience of travel from Pune to Prayagraj (formally Allahabad). Airline carrier Indigo started this direct flight from 10th June 2020 (for more details visit www.punekarnews.in/new-flight-from-pune-to-prayagraj-from-today-several-other-flights-cancelled/ )

With the ease in lockdown in Pune, it was easy for me to take a cab (like Uber/Ola) to reach the airport, which was not the case a few days ago. I took a cab from Blue Ridge, Hinjawadi, Phase I and on the way, I discovered many routes were still closed (Hinjawadi and Shivajinagar area) which took me a little more time than expected to reach the airport. We need to wear a mask all the time for access to cabs & airport as per government guidelines.

Before travelling by air, I had a few questions in mind like, how much early are we supposed to reach the airport? What are all the documents required for travelling? But, as soon as I reached the airport all my anxiety was gone because of the cooperative staff. Also, easily demarcated signage is pasted on the floor to maintain social distancing. I reached the airport 2 hours before departure and I suggest this to everyone so that you have enough time and peace of mind to judiciously follow all the precautionary measures for this virus. After reaching the airport, my check-in baggage was sanitized outside and after that I was asked to show my ticket, ID and Arogya Setu app to the respective security staff for getting access to the main hall (pre-security zone), here you need to get your check-in baggage tagged and dropped to the counter. To reduce contact, multiple cameras have been installed all over the checkpoints, where you just need to point your ticket/soft copies towards the camera. Softcopies of ticket and boarding passes are acceptable.

Now moving to the security stage, the process is the same as the earlier one, I was asked to keep all my electronic items, wallet and belt in a tray and then walk through a metal detector to the podium to be checked by security personnel wearing PPE gear. Thereafter, I walked to the waiting area of my respective boarding gate. To maintain social distancing airport authority has marked where not to sit, I went to the airline staff who gave me a face shield, face mask and a couple of sanitizer pouches and PPE suite (only for the passengers allotted/booked the middle seat). After some time, airline ground staff briefed the guidelines and then started sequential boarding, first for rows from 25 – 30 then 20 – 25 and so on to main social distancing.

While boarding the aircraft, I was greeted by the cabin crew wearing complete PPE gears. The flight took off on time and then landed at Prayagraj airport. The only disappointing thing was when passengers didn’t follow social distancing norms while de-boarding, as soon as the flight landed, passengers grabbed their baggage and rushed to the exit gate not listening to the repeated calls from the cabin crew. After I came out of the aircraft, I went to the designated belt to collect my check-in luggage, one more important thing, the passengers coming to Uttar Pradesh need to register on an online portal ‘reg.upcovid.in’ by providing necessary details. After collecting my baggage, I was screened for the temperature at the exit gate and then I booked an OLA cab to reach my home and now I am in home quarantine for 14 days as per local guidelines.”

We hope the story of Ashish Singh proves useful for all future travellers.