Flights from three cities touched down on Coimbatore International Airport on Monday -- the first day of the resumption of domestic services across the country.
Special teams of the Health Department collected nasal swabs from all the passengers who arrived in Coimbatore for COVID-19 test. They stamped a seal that mentioned the date of travel on the passengers’ hands.
Passengers who proceeded to other districts and those who belonged to Coimbatore were asked to remain in institutional quarantine. They could choose any one of the institutions arranged by the district administration or opt for a paid quarantine in hotels of their choice.
The institutional quarantine period would end once the test results arrived. Those who test negative can shift to home quarantine for 14 days. Those who test positive will be shifted to a hospital with a COVID-19 isolation ward.
The first service on Monday was an IndiGo flight from Delhi that landed with 66 passengers at 9.12 a.m. It returned to Delhi with 80 passengers at 10.21 a.m.
The second flight operated by SpiceJet from Chennai arrived with 71 passengers at 9.47 a.m., and returned with 30 passengers at 10.32 a.m. The third one, operated by IndiGo from Bengaluru, arrived with 108 passengers at 4.04 p.m.
The return flight at 5 p.m. had 58 passengers. IndiGo operated another flight from Chennai that landed here around 7.50 p.m. and returned around 8.30 p.m.
Two other flights planned by IndiGo in the Coimbatore-Mumbai and Coimbatore-Hyderabad sectors were not operated.
Sources with the airlines said that the same number of services operated on Monday was expected on Tuesday too.
Airport Director R. Mahalingam said that coordinated efforts by Airports Authority of India (AAI), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Health and Revenue Departments, police and airline staff made the first day’s operations smooth.The airport premises was disinfected at frequent intervals. AAI staff, CISF personnel and other workers used protective gear.
Passengers had several first experiences of COVID-19 preventive measures during the travel, including use of mask and gloves, touch-free security check-in and attaching luggage tag themselves. CISF and airline staff minimised their contact with passengers and their objects including flight ticker, boarding pass etc.
Revenue Department sent back four persons who came to the airport without obtaining the e-pass issued by the Government for travel.