Jaipur airport handles 500 passengers as domestic air travel resumes

Around 500 air travellers arrived or flew from Jaipur as the domestic flight operations started in the country after a hiatus of two months due to the coronavirus outbreak.

However, 12 of 20 flights scheduled for the day were cancelled.

The first aircraft arrived at the Jaipur airport from Bengaluru on Monday morning.

The Air Asia flight with 23 passengers on board landed at 0830 hrs, Jaipur airport Director JS Balhara said.

The Union government had last week announced to restart the domestic air travel, which was stopped in March to check the virus spread.

Twenty flights were scheduled for the first day today but 12 of these were cancelled and only eight flights operated. It included both arrival and departure, said Balhara.

He said the airport staff dealt with nearly 500 passengers, the maximum of whom arrived in the city.

Social distancing and health protocols were followed at the airport. The passengers and airport staff were seen wearing face shields in additional to masks.

The passengers who arrived in flights were directed to ensure 14-day quarantine.

They were screened at the airport by medical teams and their luggage were sanitised.

Flights to New Delhi, Varanasi, Bengaluru and Amritsar left the Jaipur airport on Monday.