India's New Guidelines For International Fliers As The Mutant Virus Spreads Across Nations

New Delhi: With new mutant strains of coronavirus emerging from different countries, the Centre has issued new guidelines for international travellers that will come into effect from Monday night.

The new Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) come even as the mutant coronavirus strains, are identified as SARS-CoV-2, and have been detected in many countries. The fresh guidelines are applicable to all international travellers coming/transiting through flights originating from the United Kingdom, Europe, and the Middle East.

The government has suspended international flights till February 28 and all overseas flights to and from India are being operated under the air bubble agreements with other nations.

What are the new guidelines?

1. As part of the new set of guidelines issued by the civil aviation ministry, all international travellers except the ones coming on flights originating from the UK, Europe, and the Middle East will have to submit a self-declaration form on the Air Suvidha portal before their scheduled travel.

2. International passengers will also have to upload a negative Covid-19 RT-PCR report with exception of those traveling to India in the emergency of death in the family. For seeking exemption, the travelling entity will have to apply to the online portal www.newdelhiairport.in at least 72 hours before boarding.

The test should have been conducted within 72 hours prior to the journey and each passenger will also have to submit a declaration with respect to the authenticity of the report.

3. At the time of boarding the flight, only asymptomatic travellers will be allowed to board after the thermal screening.

4. International travellers arriving through seaports/land ports will also have to undergo the same protocol, however, the facility for online registration is not available for such passengers at the moment.

5. All such clauses shall be applicable to travellers coming/transiting from flights originating in the UK, Europe, and the Middle East, except for clauses on testing, quarantine, and isolation.

6. For those who have to take connecting flights, airlines should keep the passengers informed about the need for the transit time of a minimum of 6-8 hours at the entry airport (in India) for the required testing and other procedures while booking the tickets for connecting flights.

7. Airlines should identify the international travellers arriving from/transiting through the United Kingdom, Brazil, and South Africa (during the past 14 days) and segregate them in-flight or while disembarking to facilitate the authorities to follow the due protocol in respect of these travellers.

8. All travellers arriving from/transiting through flights originating in the United Kingdom, Europe, or the Middle East shall be mandatorily subjected to self-paid confirmatory molecular tests on arrival at the Indian airports concerned (port of entry).

9. The state-wise passenger manifest of the flights originating from Europe and the Middle East and landing at Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai airports in India for the said period shall be conveyed by the Bureau of Immigration to State Government/Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme.

10. International travellers on a short stay (of less than 14 days) and who have tested negative and remain symptom-free, shall undergo all the procedures as above and shall be permitted to leave India under proper intimation to their District/State health authorities, subject to them fulfilling the requirement of the airlines and destination country.