The threat of Covid-19 seems to be ebbing, and hence, most countries around the world are withdrawing their mask or vaccination mandates, or both, which were put in at the start of the pandemic. India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation had last taken a stance on this subject in May 2022, reminding airports and passengers that it was still necessary to wear a mask when in an Indian airport or on board a flight in India or arriving/departing from India. Here is that set of instructions.
India’s MoCA has now made it optional to wear masks at airports and on board flights
In a change of stance, MoCA has now notified that masks on board aircraft or in an Indian airport are now optional and not mandatory anymore. As such, the announcements are now going to be modified accordingly, and also, no penal action will be pursued if someone does not wear a mask on board a plane. Here are the latest guidelines, that have been notified.
I would now be waiting for the Air Suvidha portal to be discontinued.
Bottomline
It is no longer necessary, but rather, optional for you to wear a mask when travelling to India or through India using the services of air travel operators. The new notification was made on November 16, 2022, so do expect a couple of days while it percolates through the system.
What do you think of the move to finally let go of masks on board? Too late or just right time?
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The requirement of returning Indian children above 5 years to be vaccinated even when they are not eligible for vaccination in India doesn’t make sense and results in Indians spending valuable foreign exchange to get expensive RTPCR tests done overseas without adding anything to Covid prevention. Hope this is taken off soon.
I would now be waiting for the Air Suvidha portal to be discontinued – This should have been done yesterday! Even Shashi Tharoor has tweeted about it.