Coronavirus: Kerala takes off with domestic flights

In the first flight, 42 passengers arrived from Bengaluru at 7am as operations resumed in the airport with adherence to the guidelines issued by the state government  

Thiruvananthapuram: Domestic air services resumed in Kerala on Monday. The first flight, Air Asia, began its journey from Bengaluru to Kochi airport.

According to reports, 42 passengers arrived by the flight from the garden city at 7am. Guidelines issued by the state government were adhered to at the airport and during flight operations

On its return journey, 86 passengers travelled onboard the flight.

At least 16 flights, including from Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad, are expected to land in Kochi airport on the inaugural day of the resumption of domestic air services in the country after two months of lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus.

While the Mumbai-Kozhikode flight landed at Karipur airport, the Kozhikode-Bengaluru flight has been rescheduled.

At the Thiruvananthapuram airport, an Air India flight from Delhi is expected at 2:15 pm. Three Indigo flights from Chennai, Bengaluru and Kannur will land here this evening, airport director CV Ravindran said.

The Thiruvananthapuram-Kozhikode flight scheduled to leave at 8:30 am was rescheduled for Tuesday.

A flight from Mumbai landed at Karipur airport this morning and returned and another will leave for Bengaluru this evening.

As per the state government guidelines, all domestic passengers would have to follow 14-day home quarantine from the date of their arrival to the state and those found symptomatic would be sent to either COVID Care Centres or hospitals.

They also have to register themselves on the Covid19Jagratha web portal.

However, those travelling to the state for a day or two on a business visit do not have to undergo quarantine.