Passengers coming from countries that are categorised as ‘at risk’ amid the emergence of the Omicron coronavirus variant need to mandatorily pre-book RT-PCR tests before their flight if they are flying to six metros in India, the Union government said on Tuesday, December 14. The Ministry of Civil Aviation said that in the first phase, the mandatory pre-booking will be applicable for passengers flying into six major Indian airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. This rule will be implemented from December 20.
The Air Suvidha portal, where passengers have to sign up before flying into India, will be modified to allow the passengers to mandatorily pre book an RT-PCR test if they are coming from the countries that have been categorised as ‘at risk’, or they have visited such countries in the last 14 days. The link to the concerned airport website will be provided on the Air Suvidha platform, which will be displayed to passengers while filling up the self-declaration form.
The government has said that in order to stabilize the system and to ensure that passengers do not have any problem in pre-booking and payments, this rule is being implemented in six cities in the first phase — Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
“Considering the convenience of the travellers, a lead time of a week would be provided, i.e, the new system will come into effect on the 20th of December (e., 19 December, 2021 at 11.59 pm onwards),” a note by the government said.
The Director General of Civil Aviation has been requested to issue an advisory to all airlines to check whether passengers have pre-booked the tests before they board the flight. “In case any passenger is having any difficulty in pre-booking, they may not be denied boarding, but it would be the responsibility of the airlines to identify and accompany such passengers to the registration counter at the airport for testing,” the note added.