Hyderabad airport all set for post-lockdown reopening with safety measures to protect flyers

HYDERABAD: As the end of the lockdown period inches closer, the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) is gearing up for reopening and making preparations to set up adequate social distancing norms.

On Friday, the airport announced a slew of measures it had put in place to ensure whoever would be travelling would get to do it seamlessly ensuring social distancing.

As one of the main efforts, the airport is making changes to queue arrangements at the kerb side (city side), check-in halls, security check areas and boarding gates, with social distancing markers/reminders. Designated teams of airport staff would monitor strict adherence to norms and sensitisation of passengers as well. The airport has also formed a team of 100 professionals to carry out disinfection drivers across seven levels and around an area of 1,27,000 sq m of the airport.

To make disinfection easier, sensor-based automatic hand sanitiser dispensing machines are being placed across the terminal building. The airport also plans to install UV machines to sanitise checked baggage and has made the boarding card and bag tag dispensers directly accessible to passengers to avoid any physical exchange of these with the airport staff.

The authorities has also announced that all payments at the airport would now be non-contact and digital.
With many of the airport staff also being vulnerable to the infection, transparent shields will be put at all counters that serve passengers to ensure safe separation between passengers and frontline staff. Stating that while the airport would be at it’s best to curtail the spread of the virus,  SGK Kishore, CEO, GHIAL said the passengers' cooperation was necessary.

“In line with our motto of ‘Passenger is Prime’, the entire Hyderabad Airport family including all our stakeholders is working through the lockdown to ensure that we have the right measures in place for passenger safety once commercial flights are permitted to resume.”