Published 16:04 IST, June 1st 2020
Following Unlock 1.0; Hardeep Singh Puri hints at gradual reopening of Aviation Sector
After the centre announced phase-wise opening of the lockdown, Hardeep Singh Puri hinted at the gradual and calibrated reopening of aviation sector
After the Centre announced a phase-wise opening of the lockdown, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri hinted at a gradual and calibrated reopening of the aviation sector. The Centre announced that the nationwide- Coronavirus lockdown in containment zones has been extended till June 30, 2020, while allowing non-containment zones to gradually ease their lockdowns.
Earlier on May 25, Aviation Ministry resumed domestic airlines operations in an augmented manner. Taking to Twitter, Puri stated that the country moves towards a critical mass of 50-60% operation of domestic flights, our ability to resume international operations will also improve.
Centre commences domestic flights
After announcing the commencement of domestic air flights, Puri said that there will be a new fare structure to keep flight travel affordable. He said that for this fare structure sets a minimum and maximum level for three months - for e.g. Delhi-Mumbai flight fare will be set Rs 3500 and the maximum level at Rs 10,000. Flight routes had been divided into 7 sections-flying times of fewer than 40 minutes, from 40 to 60 minutes, 60-90 minutes, 90-120 minutes, 120-150 minutes, 150-180 minutes and from 180 to 210 minutes.
Moreover, Puri announced that the domestic flight operations shall be restricted to 1/3rd capacity of the approved summer schedule 2020. He explained the capacity for three categories of operations- metro to metro cities, metro to non-metro cities, and non-metro-non-metro cities. Puri elaborated that metro cities imply Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata. This order shall continue till 23.59 hours on August 24, 2020, from May 25 onwards. SOPs for passengers and crew have been released.
Unlock 1.0
The Centre earlier also announced that the re-opening of the areas outside containment zones will be done in three phases. India's active cases stand at 89,995 recovered cases at 86,984 with 5,164 fatalities. Here is the phase-wise re-opening:
Phase 1 : From June 8, religious places, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls will be allowed to reopen, but will have to adhere to SOPs which will be issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW)
Phase 2 : Schools, colleges and other educational institutions will be opened in consultation with respective states and Union Territories from July 2020. An SOP will be issued for the same by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW)
Phase 3 : After further assessment of the prevalent COVID-19 conditions, resuming of international air travel, metros, cinema halls, gymnasiums, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars, auditoriums, social/political/sports/religious/cultural functions will be decided.
Updated 16:04 IST, June 1st 2020