International Flights: India Issues Revised Guidelines For Air Passengers

Considering the rising concern of worldwide Omicron spread, India on Thursday` issued revised guidelines for domestic and international passengers travelling to Delhi and urged them to follow the latest state-wise quarantine norms before heading to India. The ministry also asked all travelers to take all the necessary measures and be a COVID hero.

Taking to Twitter, the MoCA said, “Attention travelers! Travelling to Delhi? Take a look at the latest State-wise Quarantine Guidelines. Take all the necessary measures and be a #COVID_Hero #TravelSafeTravelMindfully,” said the ministry in a tweet.

As per the latest guidelines issued by the Centre, thermal screening and sample collection have been made mandatory for all air passengers.

The Centre said the sample collection of all passengers will be done on their arrival and the random sample collection will be done for passengers arriving from states witnessing a spurt in COVID-19 cases.

Full list of guidelines

• The ministry said in the latest guidelines, the air passengers will only be allowed to exit after the sample collection.
• Gibing details, the ministry said that if the passengers are travelling on a connecting flight and not leaving the airport in transit station, then they need to refer to the detailed guidelines of the respective final destination arrival state.
• However, the ministry said that the air passengers who test positive for the virus will be quarantined at home/Covid care centres/community health centres/hospital for 10 days.
• The ministry asked the domestic passengers to download the Arogya Setu app as per the guidelines.

Ban on international flights: It must be noted that the DGCA earlier this month extended the ban on scheduled international passenger flights till January 31 next year and however, added that the suspension won’t apply to international all cargo operations and flights specifically approved by DGCA, it mentioned.

The DGCA stated that the international scheduled flights will be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on case to case basis.

Notably, the scheduled international passenger services have been suspended in India since March 23, 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. But special international flights have been operating under the Vande Bharat Mission since May 2020 and under bilateral “air bubble” arrangements with selected countries since July 2020.