25 flights cancelled, but more order on Day 2

25 flights cancelled, but more order on Day 2

Pankhuri.Yadav @timesgroup.com

New Delhi:27.05.2020

A day after domestic air travel resumed, the situation was better at the Delhi airport with just 25 flights getting cancelled against 82 on Monday.

Many passengers were worried that similar cancellations might take place on Tuesday too and reached Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) well before time. But with more clarity, the situation was far better. A few flights, however, got delayed, increasing the wait time for passengers at the airport.

The first departure took place at 5am for Ahmedabad and the first arrival was at 12.15am from Mumbai. While 137 flights were scheduled to take off, 140 were to arrive at IGIA on Day 2.

Rohan Singh, who was to travel to Mumbai, said he had been stuck in Delhi for over two months due to the lockdown after coming here to celebrate Holi with his friends. “I was elated when I got to know that flights are opening finally. I just didn’t want to take any chance and reached the airport six hours in advance,” he said.

A co-passenger said he had read all instructions but was still afraid that he was exposing himself to danger. “All of us are using face shields and masks. But after hospitals, we are most exposed to the virus in airports. I hope social distancing is maintained inside the flights,” said Rajiv Pandey.

Following a two-month shutdown due to Covid-19, one-third of the domestic flights have been allowed to become operational from Monday.

An airport official said all steps had been taken to ensure everybody’s safety and the operations went on smoothly. Four stalls at IGIA selling PPE Kits and all other safety gears saw more takers on Day 2. Among the safety measures are automatic hand sanitisers at over 400 spots, UV sanitising tunnels for baggage, and floor markers and designated entry gates and check-in islands to ensure social distancing and minimum human contacts.

Gate numbers 2 and 5 of the departure area also have UV sanitising tunnels to sanitise the baggage of all passengers. Other gates have 100ML sanitiser sprays for the same purpose.

Provisions have been made for thermal scanning of passengers. They are also required to either install Aarogya Setu app on their phone or fill up a self-declaration form.

TAKING NO CHANCES: Many passengers arrived early at the airport to avoid confusion