In view of the COVID19 lockdown in various States, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has called for free movement of aviation staff heading to their workplaces.
In a note to Chief Secretaries of all States except Maharashtra where suitable orders were issued, MoCA Joint Secretary Usha Padhee said that considering the prevailing pandemic situation various States Governments had come out with State-specific guidelines on lockdown and definition of exempted/essential services.
"You will agree that air transportation is an essential service for movement of people in need as well as for cargo. However, it is observed that in few States, the employees involved in aviation and related services are facing problems in reaching out to their workplaces," she said.
The Joint Secretary urged States to issue necessary instructions and ensure free movement of people connected with aviation and related services like airlines, airports, maintenance, cargo, ground services, fuelling, security, catering etc.
In Tamil Nadu, police officers said there was no bar on employees of the aviation industry and related services travelling to airports. Possession of photo identity cards issued by the competent authority was sufficient to permit them to travel during the full or partial lockdown.
After the MoCA opened the domestic operations in a calibrated manner post lockdown and increased the lower band of dates on all sectors by 5%, the passengers carried by domestic airlines in January-February 2021 was 1.55 crore which was a drop by 38.13% compared to the corresponding period in the previous year.
