Sanitised taxis at Hyderabad airport 24x7

Operators sensitised about new safety and hygiene norms

A taxi being sanitised at RGIA.

With Hyderabad international airport recommencing operations from May 25, authorised taxi services like Meru, Skycab, Ola, Uber, One Car, Srinivasa Tours & Travels have resumed services too. These operators have been sensitised about the new safety and hygiene norms to follow while ferrying passengers.

The State government has permitted round-the-clock taxi services to and from the airport, so passengers should carry a copy of ticket or boarding card while travelling to and from the airport. Only three customers apart from driver are allowed to travel in one vehicle, advised an official spokesperson on Monday.

Safety measures at the airport begin from the parking zone itself, where besides social distancing markings, digital payment options and other contact-less measures, a mechanism to provide a sanitised taxi experience for every passenger using the airport-authorised taxi has been put in place.

It includes thermal screening of taxi drivers and only those drivers with normal body temperature are allowed to perform duty. Once the driver is cleared to drive, taxi sanitisation is conducted in front of the passengers with designated taxi sanitisation personnel in Personal Protective Equipment before passengers set foot inside.

A specially developed fumigation machine is used to spray WHO-recommended disinfectant inside the vehicle to neutralise any virus inside. Once the spraying is done, the vehicle is left idle for two minutes for higher impact on eliminating viruses and other germs. Then the outer body is sprayed followed by disinfection of all the touch points like the door latches, doors, glove box, dashboard, seats, head-rests, AV vents and AC vents/buttons among others.

The spokesperson mentioned that some taxis are also providing a plastic partition between the driver and passengers. All drivers must wear face masks at all times and keep sanitisers for customers’ use. Car park zone too is being regularly cleaned and sanitised, he added.

“We are taking all possible measures to offer a safe and healthy environment to our passengers and airport community members,” said GMR Hyderabad International Airport CEO S.G.K. Kishore.