Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday held a meeting on the need for better crowd management at airports after photos on social media of an overcrowded Delhi airport went viral raising concerns about COVID protocols being defied.
“Took stock of the preparedness, testing capacities, and the situation on the ground with regard to crowd management at both private and @AAI_Official airports. Have put an action plan with 8 compliances,” Minister Scindia posted on Twitter. He added that airports have been asked to expand RT-PCR services, ramp up help desks and forex counters and ensure seamless floor management.
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Delhi airport CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar and Chairman of Airports Authority of India, Sanjeev Kumar, were present at the meeting.
Last week, the Government announced stricter protocols for passengers arriving from “at-risk” countries which require mandatory testing on arrival in India. Passengers have to wait for their test results, which can take up to six hours, before they exit the airport or take a connecting flight, leading to chaotic scenes at airports.
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Several airports have announced additional measures to reduce waiting time for passengers. Bengaluru airport said late on Monday that it has added 50 new testing machines to scale up its testing capacity and has dedicated counters for senior citizens, passengers with reduced mobility and mothers with infants.
Delhi airport said that it has installed 120 rapid PCR test machines and provided 20 dedicated counters for passengers who have pre-booked their tests online.
Meanwhile, the Government said that it is strengthening its Air Suvidha portal, where all international passengers are required to fill a self-declaration form before undertaking travel to India, to ensure a smooth experience for all. It said that the portal allows for segregation of passengers from “at-risk” countries.