GoAir has announced a slew of measures to protect its staff, crew and passengers such as leaving middle seats empty to maintain social distance and reduction of in-flight service to minimise passenger interaction, in preparation for a phase-wise commencement of flights from May 4.
These measures fully incorporate all of the recommendations from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) along with some additional measures that the airline is proactively taking.
It includes strict social distancing at the airport during check-in and boarding, and on the aerobridges and buses, including row-wise boarding and deboarding.
"Check-in counters will open three hours prior to flight (departure time), and close one hour prior, to allow more time for stised processing of customers and baggage. Ground time for aircraft between flights will be increased to allow for cleng and disinfection of all surfaces that come into contact with crew or passengers in the cabin, gallery and lavatories," the airline said.
Hand stisers will be made available at all key touchpoints on the ground and in the aircraft. To enforce social distancing on the aircraft, all middle seats will be left empty.
There will be a reduction of in-flight service to minimise non-essential interaction between passengers and crew. Only water will be provided and there will be no meals or snack service.
Clearance of seat pockets of all items, except for safety card will be replaced or stised after each flight, and the crew will wear face masks and gloves at all times.
Commenting on the measures being taken, Vinay Dube, CEO, GoAir said, "GoAir is in full preparation mode for a gradual commencement of flights from May 4. Nothing is more important to us at GoAir than the safety and well-being of our staff, crew and passengers. We are going above and beyond the government recommendations in an effort to ensure maximum health and safety measures are undertaken as we gradually emerge from this unimaginable and unprecedented global crisis."
The airline said that announcements will be made to minimise the use of lavatories and to avoid any non-essential movement in the aisles and deep cleng of aircraft. Disinfection and fogging will be undertaken each night for the entire fleet, it added.
The airline staff will wipe all kiosks and airport counters frequently with disinfectant, and airport ticket offices and back offices will be fully disinfected and stised each night.
Passengers will be encouraged to print their boarding passes at home to minimise interactions at the airport.
Soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the extension of lockdown amid surging COVID-19 cases, the Ministry of Civil Aviation informed that airline operations of all domestic and international flights will remain suspended till May 3.
"All domestic and international scheduled airline operations shall remain suspended till 11.59 pm, May 3," the ministry said.
( With inputs from ANI )