India will resume domestic flights "in a calibrated manner" from Monday as passengers follow prevention guidelines for coronavirus, said the government.
"All airports & air carriers are being informed to be ready for operations from 25th May," said civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Twitter.
Domestic civil aviation operations will recommence in a calibrated manner from Monday 25th May 2020.
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 20, 2020
All airports & air carriers are being informed to be ready for operations from 25th May.
SOPs for passenger movement are also being separately issued by @MoCA_GoI.
India suspended commercial flights in late March, when the country went into lockdown to contain the coronavirus. SOPs for passenger movement are also being separately issued by the civil aviaiton ministry, said Puri.
Coronavirus has had a significant impact on international aviation due to the stringent border controls and travel bans to contain the virus infection. Estimates say that Indian airlines' losses could be as high as $1.75 billion in the first quarter of FY21. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said most airlines have used up two months of their three-month cash reserves in paying for fixed without earning revenue.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) on May 15 asked travellers to download the government's coronavirus tracing app, do a web-check in and carry printouts of their boarding pass, listing instructions before commercial passenger flights resume in the country.
The government run-AAI, which manages more than 100 airports across the country, said air travellers must maintain a distance of four feet from co-passengers, wear a mask and other protective gear, wash or sanitise their hands frequently and carry a 350 ml bottle of sanitiser all the time.
Before that, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) had said air travellers would be permitted to take up to 350 ml of hand sanitiser on a flight.