Fliers To Sit A Seat Apart: Social Distancing Rules For Airlines

Fliers should sit one seat apart and cabin crew should maintain distance while serving on flights, the civil aviation regulator DGCA directed today amid restrictions including a lockdown across India to check the spread of coronavirus.

Airlines have been asked to ensure distance at check-in counters and enough space as passengers wait for their flights.

"Ensure that boarding is done in a manner to avoid bunching of passengers at any time and also ensure adequate spacing between passengers in boarding lines," said the notice from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. 

Airlines have been asked to provide sanitisers for staff and passengers at the entry of the aircraft and take all possible action to ensure social distancing.

Airports have been asked to ensure public service announcements to sanitise passengers and airport staff.

Domestic operations continue in India while international flights have been banned till March 31.

Yesterday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that flights in and out of Delhi would be suspended. However, the DGCA soon came out with a clarification that there was no such ban on domestic flights.

Many airlines have cut down their flights because of the drop in movement between cities over coronavirus or COVID-19, which has taken more than 13,000 lives worldwide.

India has 415 cases of coronavirus. Seven people have died.

Eighty districts across the country are under full lockdown from today. These include Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bengaluru, which see high air traffic.