Govt permits domestic chartered flight operations, issues guidelines

The Civil Aviation Ministry permitted domestic chartered flights to resume their operations from Monday, with the scheduled domestic passenger flights also starting on the same day.

The ministry said "non-scheduled and private operators" of fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and micro-light aircraft can resume their domestic flights from May 25 onwards.

In its guidelines, the ministry said if a passenger had manually booked his or her ticket for a chartered helicopter flight, the boarding pass will be issued at the helipad or heliport with minimum contact and after following all sanitisation protocols prescribed by local administration.

Passengers should report at the airport, heliport or helipad at least 45 minutes before the departure time, the ministry said.

"Vulnerable persons, such as very elderly, pregnant ladies, passengers with health issues are advised to avoid air travel," it said. "However, this will not apply to air ambulance services."