Winning Bizness Desk
Mumbai. India has now made wearing masks optional for passengers on domestic and international flights due to improvement in the pandemic situation. A government order issued on Wednesday said that it is better if face masks are used. But now air travelers will not be penalized for not wearing face masks. With this change, the condition of mask for air travel has been removed here, but it is compulsory to fill the Air Suvidha Form before boarding a flight to India.
The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation issued an order saying that henceforth in-flight announcements by airlines “may only state that in view of the threat posed by COVID-19, all passengers Must use mask / face cover. No need to announce fine/punitive action as part of in-flight announcements.” Notably, India is lifting Covid-time restrictions like cap on domestic flight fares, such as serving/selling in-flight food and drinks; Number of domestic flights permitted; Restrictions on scheduled international flights and testing and quarantining etc. have been lifted as the pandemic situation improved in the last few quarters.
Demand to remove Air Suvidha Form also
More people traveling in flights and the travel industry is now demanding to do away with the requirement of filling and submitting the Air Suvidha form before flying to India. A leading travel agent said, “Before checking a passenger for a flight from abroad to India, the airline staff check whether the form has been submitted along with the vaccination certificate. Thorough vaccination check should remain, but air facility is an unnecessary hassle.
