NEW DELHI: The government on Monday directed airlines to serve or sell inflight meals only on those domestic flights that have a duration of over two hours, in wake of the sharp surge in Covid-19 cases in India. However, there are no restrictions on inflight meals on international flights as of now. 

The decision comes amid fears that passengers taking off masks to eat may lead to spread of the virus. While inflight meals can’t be avoided on medium or long hauls, the restriction has been imposed on domestic flights of up to two-hour duration for now.
Coronavirus: Live updates A senior aviation ministry official said: “We had (last year) issued guidelines for in-flight meals and they have worked well. However, as an abundant precaution, additional provisions are being made. For domestic flights, an order is issued to consider in-flight meal when flight duration is two hours or more.”

Meanwhile, the surge in cases has prompted Air India to opt for 100% pre-flight testing for crew operating nonstops to US, UK, Canada and Australia. The Maharaja has also started post-flight testing for crew on flights from UAE, UK and Europe.

Since resumption of domestic flights from May last year, Air India was giving its pilots hotel stay with meals to ensure they don’t need to leave the hotel or their room. Last month, the airline switched over to bed and breakfast for crew members as the Covid situation was improving. “Now we have switched back to room plus all meals for crew operating domestic flights as Covid numbers are rising sharply. This has been done for the safety of our crew members and passengers,” said a senior official. 

The number of domestic passengers has been falling during the current spike in cases. Restriction on inflight meals will be yet another hit for low cost carriers.  “In the past few days, with number of cases rising, people on short flights preferred to stay firmly masked up. Fear is again in the air with aircraft occupancy falling to an average of less than 100 passengers. Just when things were looking up, its all going from bad to worse very fast,” said a worried airline official. 

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