With the Ministry of Civil Aviation announcing the resumption of domestic flights from May 25, the international airport here is ready to handle the services in accordance with the Standard Operating Procedure specified by the State government.
Private airline IndiGo has already announced the operation of flight services in the Tiruchi – Chennai – Tiruchi and Bengaluru- Tiruchi – Bengaluru sectors from Monday.
As per the proposed schedule announced by the airline, the first flight to Tiruchi from Chennai will land at 10.45 a.m. and leave at 11.15 a.m. The second service to Tiruchi would be operated in the night. The flight will arrive Tiruchi at 9.20 p.m. and leave at 9.50 p.m. The flight from Bengaluru will land at 8.20 p.m. and depart at 8.55 p.m.
The proposed services are to be operated by ATR aircraft which was the case before the lockdown was announced.
An airline official here said mask, face shield and hand sanitiser would be given to all passengers taking the flight amid spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
The counter at the airport would be opened well ahead and the staff manning them would also be provided with mask and hand sanitiser.
To facilitate domestic operation, the Air Traffic Control watch hour at Tiruchi airport has been revised from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. said airport sources.
However, Tiruchi airport authorities here said though they were ready to handle domestic flights they were awaiting concurrence from the State government in this regard in view of the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic. The State government has announced standard operating procedure for domestic air travel.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has issued detailed set of guidelines for adherence at the airports which includes temperature check of passengers with infra red thermometer and luggages to be disinfected following COVID-19 protocol by airport staff.
