Show-cause notice issued to airline for flouting Covid guidelines in Delhi

The New Delhi district administration on Friday issued a show-cause notice to American Airlines for alleged non-compliance of the Centre's guidelines for international arrivals in the wake of concerns over the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, officials said.

The notice was issued by Piyush Arun Rohankar, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Delhi Cantonment, which comes under the New Delhi district.

No immediate response was available from American Airlines over this.

The general manager of the airline was issued the show-cause notice for allegedly not adhering to the guidelines after flight AA 292 New York JFK landed at the T3 terminal of the Indira Gandhi International Airport here.

"Reply to this show-cause notice must reach the undersigned within 24 hours without fail. Non-compliance shall be viewed seriously, and it would be presumed that the station manager has nothing to say in the matter and action as deemed fit shall be initiated as per relevant provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005; Section 188 of IPC and other applicable laws," the notice, a copy of which is with PTI, read.

According to the Centre, the countries designated as "at-risk" are European countries, including the UK, and South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel.

Travellers from these "at-risk" countries are following additional measures on arrival in India from Tuesday midnight.

Under the new norms, RT-PCR tests are mandatory for passengers arriving from "at-risk" countries, and they will be allowed to leave the airport only after the results come. Also, two per cent of passengers arriving on all flights from other countries will be subjected to the test randomly.