Airlines flew 58,318 passengers to their destination on first day of flights after lockdown

Photo: Twitter/@HardeepSPuri

New Delhi: The Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri informed on Tuesday (May 26, 2020) that over 58,318 passengers flew to their destination on the first day of the passenger flight resumption.

The Minister also said that there were around 832 flights that operated on Monday.

Airports are abuzz & passengers are back in air.

58,318 passengers flew to their destinations on 832 flights on the first day, 25th May till midnight.

Operations have started in Andhra Pradesh from today. These numbers are all set to soar higher.@PMOIndia @MoCA_GoI pic.twitter.com/eWB9KeS9W9 — Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 26, 2020

The domestic passenger flights resumed operations on Monday (May 25) after it was halted for almost two months due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The first flight on Monday took off from Delhi for Pune at 4.45 AM under strict regulations recommended by the civil aviation authorities, whereas the first flight from Mumbai was to Patna at 6.45 AM.

Although, according to PTI, as many as 630 flights were cancelled on Monday after West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh showed reluctancy to allow domestic flight services from their airports.

The Civil Aviation Minister also informed that the operations have started in Andhra Pradesh from today (May 26) and that the numbers are all set to soar higher.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) state government in West Bengal issued guidelines for passengers who will be taking domestic flights to the state. The West Bengal will restart passenger flight operations from May 28.

As per the advisory issued by the government, people entering Bengal once domestic flights are allowed in the state from May 28 must submit a self-declaration form stating that they had not tested positive for COVID-19 in the past two months. The passengers also need to undergo health screening after their arrival at the airport, it said. 

With the aviation sector reeling under severe stress due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown that was imposed on March 25, the government had last week announced the resumption of domestic flight services from May 25 under specific rules and guidelines.

It had set a cap on ticket pricing, made wearing of face masks by passengers mandatory, no food served onboard planes, and making available details of medical conditions by travellers through the Aarogya Setu app or by filling up of a self-declaration form.