Maharashtra issues SOP for domestic air travellers; mandates 14-day home quarantine

After resuming domestic flights, Maharashtra government on Monday, issued detailed guidelines for travellers, mandating 14-day home quarantine and will be stamped on the left hand. The guidelines state that apart from the Centre's SOPs, the government has directed respective municipal corporations to appoint nodal officers who will assist with the airport authorities to ensure safe travel of the passengers. Maharashtra tops the nation in COVID-19 cases with 50,231 cases and 1635 deaths.

Maharashtra govt allows 25 take-offs & 25 domestic flight landings daily from Mumbai

Maharashtra revises guidelines for domestic travellers

The guidelines also state that passengers who are coming to the state for less than a week must inform the authorities and won't be allowed into containment zones. The government has also allowed citizens to use private vehicles to the residence, apart from containment zones. Moreover, passengers wishing to move outside red zones must take prior permission from the government.

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Mumbai flights commence

Earlier on Monday, after CM Uddhav Thackeray said that the state needs more time to resume domestic air travel since the multiplication of the virus is picking up in the state, NCP minister Nawab Malik stated that the government has allowed the commencement of domestic flight operations from May 25 in its financial capital- Mumbai. The city's airport stated that 50 flights - 25 take-offs and 25 landings will be allowed from Monday. Inspite of clear scheduling, several flights have been cancelled leading to stranded passengers at airports this morning.

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Domestic flights commence

On Wednesday, after announcing the commencement of domestic air flights, Union Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri announced that the domestic flight operations shall be restricted to 1/3rd capacity of the approved summer schedule 2020 along with a new fare limit to make flights 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 10000.  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. 

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Maharashtra redefines COVID-19 zones

After extending lockdown till May 30, the state has divided its COVID-19 zones as “red zones” and “non-red zones", instead of red, orange, and green zones - based on death count and doubling rate. As per the new definition, Maharashtra's red zones are Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune, Solapur, Aurangabad, Malegaon, Nashik, Dhule, Jalgoan, Akola and Amravati, while the rest of the state are non-red zones. While stringent restrictions prevalent in the previous red zones, the rest of the state has been allowed to open up as per MHA's Lockdown 4.0 guidelines.