C Shivakumar @ CHENNAI:
A total of around 2,300 passengers in 35 flights travelled in and out from Chennai Airport as domestic flight services resumed after two months of lockdown with operation to Maharshtra and Gujarat being stuck down due to rise in Coronavirus cases in the two states.
The schedule, which was reworked late in the night after initially the state government yielded to allow 25 flights a day, had the passengers flocking to the airport. However, many got disappointed as the new schedule had stuck down flights from Ahmedabad and Mumbai, the financial capital of india, due to rise in Coronavirus cases there. Chennai Airport sources told Express that flight to Gujarat and Maharshtra will resume soon.
A total of 16 flights arived in the city and 19 outbound services departed from the city. Initially, a total of 34 flights were originally scheduled to depart, as many as 15 of them were cancelled, including some of those to Mumbai and Delhi.
It was totally a differet experience for many a passengers as trolleys could not be availed and the entrance to the airport was monitored through a camera where in the tickets and identity cards are being scanned by the CISF.
The ticket pass was collected after scanning the ticket using the bar code. Even the baggage pass has to be availed by the passengers with airport staff guiding the passengers. The check-in happened an hour earlier.
Delhi-bound Indigo Airlines with 116 passengers was the first flight to
be operated from the airport at 6.40am. Initially, a total of 120 passngers were to board the flight but four passengers could not make it as they were taken for medical check-up. Meanwhile flight services to Thoothkudi and Tiruchy could not resume due to less number of passengers. Flights inbound and outbound also operated from Coimbatore, Madurai and Port Blair airports.
Meanwhile first arrival to Chennai was Air Asia flight carrying 29 pasengers from Delhi at 8.15am.
The passengers who arrived had to undergo thermal scanning. Their phone details were collected and they underwent medical checkup. The passengers were stamped with 'Quarantine' seal with date with edible ink before they are allowed to move out of airport. They later showed e-pass to CISF personnel and were allowed to depart the terminal. Those without e-pass were provided with one in two special counters being set up at the airport.
Meanwhile, a release from spicejet stated that the airline operated flights to Delhi-Bengaluru, Delhi-Pune, Delhi-Chennai, Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Guwahati, Ahmedabad-Delhi, Delhi–Patna, Mumbai–Bengaluru, Chennai–Bengaluru, Varanasi–Jaipur, Bengaluru–Pune, Delhi–Srinagar, Udaipur–Ahmedabad, Jammu–Srinagar, Chennai–Madurai, Hyderabad–Jharsuguda, Hyderabad-Surat among others.
Airlines suspended Food and Beverage services on all its flights. Food and beverage consumption inside the flight is also not allowed.
However, the focus was also on the air circulation systems and the cabin airflow in aircraft as fear persisted over spread of Coronavirus in aircraft. Many airlines like spicejet in a bid to allay the fears of passengers stressed that the cabin air in the aircraft flows from top to bottom and gets absorbed at the bottom for filtration.
"Cabin air is constantly exchanged with a mix of 50 per cent outside air and 50 per cent filtered air. This air exchange happens every two to three minutes to ensure the availability of fresh and clean air. All our aircraft use a high-efficiency (HEPA) filter (like those found in hospitals) which removes up to 99.9 per cent of airborne particles like viruses and bacteria," claimed Spicejet.
41 flights scheduled for Tuesday
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ CHENNAI:
Chennai Airport said that a total of 41 flights, which include both inbound and outbound, have been scheduled on Tuesday.
These include flights to Thoothkudi, Tiruchirapalli, Hyderabad, Bagdogra and Vijaywada.
Flights to Thoothkudi was not scheduled on Monday and to Tiruchy was cancelled due to lack of passengers. Hyderabad and Vijaywada are also in the itinerary.
