India’s low-cost carrier Goair has announced a slew of measures to ensure safe air travel. The airline is in preparation for a phase-wise commencement of flights.

On May 19, civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri informed that India will recommence its domestic flight operations in a calibrated manner from May 25.

These measures by Goair fully incorporate recommendations from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) along with some additional measures deemed necessary by the airline.

Measures that Goair will undertake:

  • Strict social distancing at the airport during check-in and boarding, and on the aerobridges and buses, including row-wise boarding and deboarding.
  • Check-in counters to open three hours prior to the flight, and close one hour prior, to allow more time for sanitised processing of customers and baggage.
  • Ground time for aircraft between flights to be increased to allow for cleaning and disinfection of all surfaces that come into contact with crew or passengers in the cabin, galley, and lavatories.
  • Availability of hand sanitisers at all key touchpoints on the ground and in the aircraft.
  • Reduction of inflight service to minimise non-essential interaction between passengers and crew – only water will be provided, there will be no meals or snack service.
  • Suspension of all onboard sales.
  • Clearance of seat pockets of all items except for safety card, which will be replaced or sanitised after each flight.
  • Crew to wear face masks and gloves at all times when interacting with passengers.
  • Announcements will be made to minimise the use of lavatories and to avoid any non-essential movement in the aisles.
  • Deep cleaning of aircraft, disinfection, and fogging will be undertaken each night for the entire fleet.

A spokesperson from Goair said, “We will continue to use the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved, hospital-grade disinfectant for deep cleaning the aircraft, i.e. in the cabin, on elements in the flight deck, and in the lavatory. Each Goair aircraft is equipped with a HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) filter, which filters out recirculated air onboard each plane to remove airborne particles.

“HEPA filters are also used in hospitals to provide patients with clean air wherein they extract more than 99.999 per cent of even the tiniest viruses, including Covid-19. Also, at airports, we have been regularly disinfecting the check-in kiosks, gate areas, check-in counters and ticketing counters.”

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