City likely to have a few int’l flights

City likely to have a few int’l flights

Officials May Allow Limited Schedules

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:11.8.2020

The city airport may have a few scheduled international flights after shutdown restrictions are over, sometime next month.

Though no decision has been taken, there is a thinking among the officials of the ministry of civil aviation and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to allow some limited schedules to nearby international destinations.

It looks like Chennai is also being considered as one of the airports which will be nominated as gateway airports for such flights which will be decided based on the ‘air bubble’ concept mooted by the Union government.

“Till now the thinking was not to have international flights till domestic passenger movement picked up considerably closer to the numbers handled in the pre-shutdown days. However, the numbers are not increasing as expected because people continue to travel only for emergencies. Quarantine restrictions in major cities is the reason,” said an airport official.

Sources said that the new SOP issued by the Union ministry of health is released with this intention to ensure that there can be a few scheduled flights.

“The SOP exempts those arriving from abroad to skip institutional quarantine if they produce a Covid-19 negative certificate. This needs to be approved by the state government. But this is a first step towards opening up airports for international flights as the state government need not test or look for accommodation for the arriving passengers,” he added.

This change in rule is crucial because passenger numbers will be high when flights are operated regularly. A twin aisle widebody plane can carry around 300 to 400 passengers.

The airlines are also putting pressure on the ministry to start flights abroad. SpiceJet has got slots from London. Most of the flights are likely to be to the Middle East or Southeast Asia to begin with. There may be a flight to London but is yet to be confirmed.

“There should be scheduled flights. Chennai-London, Chennai-Dubai/Abu Dhabi are popular routes. These airports are transit hubs. People who want to travel to countries that are open for visitors can use the scheduled flights to transit via hubs. But only point to point travellers are allowed now. This means a passenger can buy tickets from Chennai to Dubai and not beyond,” said Basheer Ahmed of Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI).

TAFI has represented the union government to permit people to book and travel to Europe or the US via transit hubs. Chennai airport now handles three arrivals from abroad on most of the days under the Vande Bharat flights.