Passengers and crew are observing all safety precautions onboard flights (File)
New Delhi / Bengaluru: 16 asymptomatic passengers on seven different flights, including 13 who travelled by IndiGo, have tested positive for COVID-19 since the resumption of domestic air services on Monday, according to airlines data.
Two of the three asymptomatic passengers who tested positive for the infection had travelled by Spicejet while one took a flight of the Air India subsidiary Alliance Air.
The Karnataka government, meanwhile, said on Thursday it has requested the Civil Aviation ministry to reduce the number of flights originating from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in view of the high number of COVID-19 cases in the state, hours after a minister said it has “suspended” air travel from these states.
Seeking to clarify his statement, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister JC Madhuswamy maintained that Karnataka has not sought a ban on flights from the five states as reported in some sections of the media.
Karnataka has appealed to the Civil Aviation Ministry to take steps to lessen the air traffic to the state, with the “sacred intention” that there may not be adequate quarantine facilities, if there is a huge turnout in a short span of time, he said in a press release issued by the state information department.
West Bengal, which allowed resumption of domestic air services from Thursday, and Maharashtra are among the states who have requested the centre for limited flight operations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Three passengers who travelled on Delhi-Jammu flight on Tuesday, six passengers on Bengaluru-Coimbatore flight, two passengers on Delhi-Coimbatore flight and one passenger on Bengaluru-Madurai flight, all on Wednesday, tested positive for coronavirus, the airline said.
On Tuesday, IndiGo had said that a passenger who travelled from Chennai to Coimbatore on Monday evening tested positive for COVID-19. The passenger was the first to have tested positive after the domestic flight operations resumed in the country.
All the passengers who tested positive had observed all precautionary measures, including wearing face mask, face shield and gloves, like other travellers on the aircraft, it said.
“All our aircraft are being regularly sanitized as a standard operating procedure, and the aircraft operating these flights were immediately disinfected as per protocol,” the airline added.
SpiceJet said on Wednesday that two of its passengers who travelled from Ahmedabad to Guwahati via Delhi on Monday tested positive for coronavirus.
Air India had also said on Wednesday that a passenger who was on an Alliance Air flight from Delhi to Ludhiana tested positive and 41 people, including five crew members, had been quarantined.
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