Domestic flight operations resume at Kolkata airport

Domestic flight operations to and from Kolkata resumed on Thursday (May 28) after a gap of two months due to the COVID-19 lockdown.

Though domestic flight operations across the country began on May 25, they could not be restarted in Kolkata as the state machinery was involved in relief and restoration work after Cyclone Amphan whiplashed many areas of the state.

The first flight from Kolkata left for Guhawati at 6.05 am with 40 passengers, whereas 122 passengers arrived from New Delhi on Thursday morning, the sources said. “Welcome Back, Passengers! #KolkataAirport saw the arrival of 122 passengers from @DelhiAirport after two long months and 40 passengers departed to #Guwahati. Proper checks were followed, and regular sanitization was carried out in terminal which was abuzz with passengers,” the Kolkata airport tweeted.

On Thursday, ten flights will take off from Kolkata, and an equal number will arrive in the city, sources at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport said.

Domestic flight operations will resume at Bagdogra airport in north Bengal too. The West Bengal government had recently come up with a set of guidelines for people arriving in the state in domestic flights.

According to it, those entering the state from Thursday must submit a self-declaration form stating that they have not tested positive for COVID-19 in the past two months, according to an advisory of the Health Department. The passengers will also need to undergo health screening after they arrive at the airport, the advisory said on Monday.

Arrangements for contact-less travel with social-distancing norms have been readied at the city airport to keep passengers safe from COVID-19, a top airport official said on Wednesday. An “absolute contact-less procedure” with “least possible surface touch” will be provided to passengers from the time of entering the airport till boarding the flight under the new arrangement.