Delhi airport gets over 45,000 applicants for quarantine exemption

More than 45,288 applications were received by Delhi Airport’s Air Suvidha portal from international passengers seeking exemption from institutional quarantine.

The portal, launched on August 8, is a medium for passengers to address issues related to exemption from institutional quarantine and submitting self-declaration forms.

According to the website, over 78,700 passengers applied for self-declaration through this portal, of which only 78,663 passengers were found to be asymptomatic.

Nearly 77 passengers were found symptomatic, who were escorted to APHO for necessary assistance and support.

“To further streamline the process, exemption from institutional quarantine is being granted on the basis of RT-PCR report. At Delhi Airport alone, alone between Aug 8 and 5 Sept, 29,399 incoming passengers out of a total of 90,843 have been granted this exemption,” civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said.

United States (15,027), UAE (4,512), UK (4,094), Canada (3,416), and Australia (2,687) are the countries from which the highest number of applications have been received.

The portal provides five categories under which an international passenger is allowed to avail exemptions from international quarantine. The categories are pregnant women; suffered a death in the family; Suffering from serious illness (Description to be provided); Parents accompanied by children below 10 years, and Covid-19 negative in recent RT-PCR test (96 hours prior to undertaking the journey as per govt. guideline).

The passengers seeking exemption will need to ill the e-forms available on the website of Delhi Airport-www.newdelhiairport.in.

Moreover, the passenger has to submit all the supporting documents with a copy of their passports at least 72 hours before boarding the flight.

India has agreed to create an "air travel bubble" to facilitate the movement of people between the two countries.