Mumbai Airport announces safety measures for post-lockdown period

AAI-GVK group-run Mumbai airport on Saturday announced a slew of safety measures for resumption of commercial air passenger services in the post-lockdown period.

The airport has formulated SOPs for post-lockdown safety of the passengers like social distancing, stringent thermal screening, positioning temporary quarantine centres, sanitising and disinfecting the airport to ensure safety and well-being of the passengers, once operations resume, Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) said in a release.

MIAL is the joint venture company, managing and operating the city airport.

To enable safety precautions at the airport, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) plans to maintain social distancing through distinctive markings at both the terminals -- T1 and T2, maintaining 1.5 meters distance between each passenger as per the social distancing norms issued by the aviation regulator DGCA, MIAL said.

The special markings will be spread across the entry gate, check-in counters, self-check-in kiosks, security checkpoints, food courts, lounge area and the boarding area amongst others. Furthermore, the seating arrangements at the food court as well as in the terminal building are reshuffled in a manner that promotes social distancing, it said.

Additionally, the airport authorities have also created quarantine centres at both T1 and T2 in case of any passenger showing symptoms of the coronavirus during the screening, which will be conducted before entering the terminal building.

The airport will be assigning their personnel to assist travellers at the self check-in kiosks to help with the boarding copy and other details along with stationing hand sanitisers at all the touchpoints, it added.

In a bid to enhance passenger safety and lower the chances of spread of the virus, MIAL puts special emphasis on the need for passengers to wear masks and gloves during the entire course of their travel, the airport operator said, adding that it also encourages passengers to check-in online from their home or office, the use of card payment transaction and contactless payment at the airport restaurants and retail stores.

The operator also said that in the initial phase of resuming operations, the airport will be functioning with 50 per cent staff strength as per the government directives.

The airport maintenance staff have been provided with renewed and effective cleaning procedures to efficiently sanitise and disinfect the terminal building, including the vital areas where human hands come to play such as elevator buttons, escalators, immigration counters, to name a few.

Regular stakeholder meetings are being held to ensure compliance across the board, and specialized training sessions are conducted for all airport personnel, it said.