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

In a major development, Maharashtra government on Sunday, has allowed the commencement of domestic flight operations from May 25 in its financial capital- Mumbai. State minister Nawab Malik has stated that the MVA government will allow 25 take-offs and 25 landings will be allowed daily in Mumbai. The Maharashtra Chief Secretary will soon release SOP to be followed by domestic flight passengers.

Mumbai flights commence

Coronavirus Live Updates: Domestic & intl travel guidelines issued; cases at 1,31,868

Thackeray: 'Need more time to prepare'

In contrast, Maharashtra Chief Minister 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, while addressing a press briefing earlier in the day. The CM further said he had a discussion with Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri about the same. He had also criticised the 'sudden' imposition of lockdown and stated that it cannot be completely lifted after May 31.

'We cannot say that we will lift the lockdown by May 31. The coming time is crucial as the multiplication of the virus is picking up," Thackeray said adding, "Today morning, I spoke to Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and requested him to give us some time to do preparations (to resume domestic air travel). The government needs to evaluate a lot of things. For instance, how many employees will be needed at the airport, details about the employees - whether they live in safe zones or containment zones, travel arrangements for the passengers".

It was wrong to impose lockdown suddenly: Uddhav Thackeray

Civil Aviation ministry to decide on domestic flights

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has held a meeting of airlines & airport operators today on domestic flight resumption from 25 May to discuss SOPs for States/UTs . The Centre will soon take a call on the final resumption of operation as Maharashtra, Bengal and Tamil Nadu oppose the move. Guidelines for any kind of domestic travel (air/rail/inter-state bus), have already been issued by the Centre, allowing the states to develop their own protocol for quarantine and isolation.

Centre issues guidelines for domestic air,rail, bus travel; states to decide on quarantine

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. Maharashtra tops the COVID-19 tally in the nation with 47190 cases and 1577 deaths.

'Virus spreading rapidly,' says Maha CM Thackeray seeking time to resume domestic flights