In view of increasing Covid-19 cases in India, the Union Civil Aviation Ministry has banned in-flight meals on all domestic flights that have a duration of 2 hours or less. The development comes on a day when India reported nearly 1.70 lakh Covid-19 cases, the highest single-day tally any country has ever recorded since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Apart from the ban on in-flight meals, the ministry also ordered all airlines to ensure only pre-packaged snacks, meals and beverages are served.
Here’s what the order said:
- In business and economy classes, all trays, plates and cutlery must be completely disposable with no re-use, cleaned or disinfected rotatable.
- In-flight meal services will be staggered among adjacent seats as far as possible.
- Tea, coffee, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages should be served in single-use disposable cans, containers, bottles or glasses.
- All used disposable and rotatable trays, plates, cutleries etc will be disposed off by crew members.
- Used rotatable must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before re-use.
- Crew members will wear a fresh set of gloves for each meal/beverage service.
India resumed domestic passenger flight operations on May 25 last year, after a gap of two months due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown. Meanwhile, the ban on international flights has been extended till 30 April 2021 in view of the second wave.
