Passengers observe social distancing at Chennai airport as domestic flights resume

Passengers at Chennai international airport observed social distancing on the first day of resumption of domestic flights amid the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown on Monday.

Tamil Nadu government has allowed only 25 landings per day.

All passengers were seen wearing gloves and face masks. They were screened before entering the airport. The airport maintenance staff is ensuring effective stisation and disinfection of the terminal buildings, including the vital and high touch point areas.

However, some of the passengers were disappointed as their tickets were cancelled.

"From March 15, we were stuck here in Tamil Nadu due to the lockdown. We booked three tickets for Mumbai last night but while reaching here our flight tickets are cancelled and there is no one to answer us at the help desk. We don't know what to do now," Viswanathan, a passenger said.

According to the airport authority, the IndiGo flight departed with 111 passengers on board from Chennai to Delhi at 6:25 am. There are 16 flights coming to Chennai from other parts of the country and 19 flights are departing from Chennai to the other states. These airlines are initially operating flights to Delhi, Coimbatore, Andaman and Mumbai.

All scheduled commercial passenger flights were suspended in India since March 25 when the Centre imposed a lockdown to contain the virus. Domestic flight operations resumed across the country from Monday except in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.

( With inputs from ANI )