As the number of COVID-19 cases across the country is dropping, the restrictions imposed across the nation during the pandemic are gradually decreasing. The government has also decided to ease the travel restrictions in domestic and international flights significantly over the past few months.
In good news for avid travelers, the central government has eased some of the in-flight restrictions with the COVID-19 cases in the country at an all-time low. The Centre has decided to resume two major services in domestic flights across the country.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on Tuesday issued an order which stated that serving meals is not permitted on all domestic flights in India, irrespective of the duration. The order also stated that magazines and other reading materials will also be made available for travelers.
When the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country, the Civil Aviation Ministry had put several restrictions on in-flight activities, which included barring airlines from serving meals in flights less than two hours and also restricting them from providing magazines to passengers.
The official order of the aviation ministry stated, “The airlines offering flights on domestic routes may provide meal service on board, without restrictions on the duration of flights.” These restrictions have been lifted in domestic flights after over six months.
The order of the Civil Aviation Ministry also stated that both international and domestic airlines will now be allowed to provide magazines and other reading material to the passengers. The ministry also said that the decision has been taken as the COVID-19 cases have been reduced due to “proper implementation of appropriate COVID behaviour protocol”.
The serving of in-flight meals was allowed under certain conditions in domestic flights once the flight services were resumed on May 25 last year after the lockdown imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus across the country. The services were suspended once again when the second wave of the pandemic hit the country.
(With agency inputs)
