[vigsom]

Purpose

Many of you might be on the fence, deciding on whether or not to travel by air during this time. The purpose of these posts is to narrate my 3 day old travel experience by air under current Covid-19 restrictions, help you prepare for the trip and enlighten you on what to expect. I flew Indigo and whatever I am going to share is for this airline.

DISCLAIMER : Posted here are my experiences and not the official rules issues by airlines/ aviation authorities/ State Govts. I would request you to view my experiences as only guidelines which would hopefully clarify some unanswered queries.

The Great

• CISF has gone hi-tech with hand held scanners and tabs -seeing this for the first time in my life
• Security checks are non-contact type
• Airline issues a PPE kit neatly packed in a plastic cover – the kit comprises a face shield, a mask and a few sachets of sanitizer
• a PPE suit is issued to all those passengers travelling in the middle seats viz. Bravo(B) and Echo(E)
• for the first time, I’ve seen passengers stay put in their seats until the aircraft doors are opened on arrival
• Air traffic is picking up
• people are conscious of social distancing, but there is still room for improvement

What could be improved

• the system of issue of PPEs varies from one airport to another
• poor adherence to social distancing norms while boarding, deplaning and queuing

Pre-Flight

Web Check in

1. The airline mandates a web check in for the flight – this opens 48 hours ahead of scheduled departure of the flight and ends 60 minutes before scheduled departure of the flight.
2. does not offer seat selection for free – typical seat prices are INR 150-300.
3. If one doesn’t opt for seat selection, the passenger would receive boarding passes with pre-allocated seats.
4. The web check in also requires generation of a baggage tag for check-in baggage; this baggage tag thus generated is e-mailed to the passenger.
5. Baggage allowance is ONE piece weighing a max of 15kg, one piece of hand luggage weighing a max of 7kg. In addition, they allow one personal carry on item weighing upto 3kg (this was the norm before the Covid shut down too).
6. There is also a self health declaration form which gets generated and e-mailed along with the boarding pass to the passenger.

I printed my boarding pass, baggage tag and the health declaration form before proceeding to the airport

All other guidelines apply. eg.

1. keeping power banks, mobile chargers, laptop chargers in hand baggage
2. disallowing explosive and other stuff like always

At the Airport

Entry and Check-in

I boarded my first flight at a Class B city airport, and whatever is posted here is my experience:

1. Every CISF jawan at entry is shielded by a transparent enclosure.
2. They asked me to show my boarding pass/ ticket and my ID, and they examined the same just by seeing these from behind the enclosure.
3. Every jawan had a passenger list; the jawan verified my passenger details on the list with him.
4. On entry inside the airport, there was a thermal scan on my wrist and after that a second level scrutiny by airline staff.
5. The airline staff verified my passenger details against their manifest, and my E-pass ( if one is travelling to states that require this). The PPE kit was issued here. Again, this might be different at different airports.
6. Check in baggage was screened by CISF immediately after step 5.
7. The baggage was screened again by the airline and those rocket like tag was installed as always.
8. At baggage drop, the pre-printed baggage tag was not taken, instead they generated the baggage tag as per normal practice stating that scanning of the pre- generated baggage tags was an issue.
9. The baggage stub was not given, instead the agent said I'd get an sms once on board. I did receive an sms but only to confirm acceptance of my baggage at BLR to be loaded on to my connecting flight.

I understand that if one did not complete a web-check in, there was a INR 100 charge for check-in facilitation at the airport.

Security Check and Boarding

1. Before the Security check, CISF insisted on me putting the face shield on.
2. Before entering Security check area, the CISF jawan again looked at the boarding pass from behind the enclosure.
3. The face shield has a laminated protector on both sides. I didn’t remove that and found that I had no vision, but only a mission. . I also realized that the right way of wearing the face shield was by ensuring that the belt is low down on the head. When I wore the band at the same level as the forehead, I started having headache after some 30 minutes.

The correct position of the band


4. CISF insisted that I put all electronic devices and chargers in the tray/ bin for scanning.
5. Security check was absolutely non-contact; the jawan was in a PPE suit

I was asked to show my boarding pass to a camera. They used a long metal detector (similar to a mine detector), and did a full body check, front and back, with only the detector - no use of hands.The experience from the gate to the air bridge to the aircraft was as usual with NO sequential boarding. Passengers in seats B and E were provided a PPE suit before boarding commenced.

In-Flight

No change except that the cabin crew recommended placing hand baggage under the seat in front. However, I saw several passengers place their baggage in the overhead bins.In-flight meal service was a cold affair – no hot beverages served.On arrival, passengers started getting up from their seats only when the aircraft doors had been opened; pretty good discipline compared to pre-Covid times !!

[vigsom]

Part2: Transit in Bangalore

Our aircraft was parked in a remote bay and all passengers were ushered into spectra-wide Veera buses. Passengers were wary about inter-passenger spacing and the bus was not cramped at all. I would estimate there were no more than 50 passengers in one Veera Bus. En-route to the Terminal, I saw several jets, especially Go Air parked with the fan side of the engine covered. Most ATRs and Bombardier Q400s were observed mothballed, with Ground Power Units placed close by for energizing the aircraft when required. In my transit in BLR, I found only one Q400 land.

Transfer Tollgate

1. A CISF jawan stood behind a transparent barrier.
2. I showed him my boarding pass, he scanned it, details appeared on his tab, he asked for my ID which he again saw from behind the barrier , and asked me to proceed.
3. I moved up the escalator towards the departure gates and was greeted by a lounge representative asking me to proceed to the lounge. I said, “No Thanks” and proceeded for my Security check.

Transfer Security

1. Long queue as usual with semi social distancing.
2. Another CISF jawan standing behind a barrier asked me to show my boarding pass, scanned it, asked me to remove my mask and a camera apparently recorded my presence. This is the only place mask had to be taken off.
3. Next, I proceeded to the security bin carousel.
4. I was asked to place everything except my clothes and my shoes in the spectra-wide bin.
Here, even the bag had to be placed in the bin and not directly on the conveyor belt.

There was a roadblock till the bin carousel, after that the security check was a breeze – same mine detector non-contact type Security check.
Collecting one’s belongings after the security check was again a bit of a wait; one person lost his shoes while I lost my cool due to the long wait.It was a while by the time my bin arrived with my belt in it.It is important to plan and put on a pair of trousers that holds on without the belt, else....you know what .

Total time from Transfer toll gate to moving from Security with my belongings was 45 minutes.BLR KIAL Airport was teeming with people, like how I saw it when I flew in last in Nov 2019.

The Crowd at the airport


Pic of a cafe - not many people seated around


Air Traffic inching back to pre-Covid days


Passengers in PPE Suits


Boarding and deplaning the connecting flight was similar to my first flight – non-sequential boarding.

Queue for boarding a flight to Goa


Veera Bus shot from the Air Bridge


Veera Bus and Cobus alongside


Inside my connecting flight


On arrival at my final destination, it was reception by buses, and once in the Terminal, it was the usual chaos at the baggage belt. No checks were done at the exit; so much for my E-Pass !!!

Key observations

1 Ensure that the face shield is worn right with the band in the right position; else one would experience a bad headache after sometime.

2 It was a tough experience with the mask on all the time – approx. 9 hours and I would strongly advise those with breathing issues to be a little careful here.

3. Be careful with your proof of identity as there are multiple check points and there is every chance of it getting misplaced.

4. Organize your laptop chargers, power banks, and mobile chargers in some packs such that taking them out of the hand baggage for security checks is an easy affair.

[GTO]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line to the CV Section. Thanks for sharing!

Going to homepage today

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by vigsom

I flew Indigo and whatever I am going to share is for this airline.

Thank you for sharing this - a friend who travelled a few months back by Indigo shared a similar experience. Ironically for him back in June-July, the flight (Bangalore - Bhubaneshwar) was jam-packed to the brim but he felt quite secure with the additional security factors and especially the PPE kit and face shield given by the airlines. If I remember correctly, he had to pay a minor charge (~800 inr) additional for the PPE kit; the face shield and mask were complimentary.


To other BHPians - any visibility how the other airlines are playing their part (e.g. Air India)? I have an upcoming Air India flight next weekend, hence the question.

[jkrishnakj]

Aha , this is comforting. Thank You Vigsom.

I am seriously missing planes and airports.

As a family , we are planning a holiday in Goa in a couple weeks and the discussions did begin at home about a Drive (10
Hours ) Vs Fly ( spend
More time at Goa ). We somehow felt flights might not be a safe option. Reading this , I’m now doing a re-think or flying instead of driving.

Aside , if the middle seat occupant is a family member flanked by family on either side while seated , does the person still need to wear the full PPE kit ?

[TD_GHY]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

. If I remember correctly, he had to pay a minor charge (~800 inr) additional for the PPE kit; the face shield and mask were complimentary
.

I recently did a round trip from Guwahati to Kolkata with Indigo. During both the flights, I was assigned the middle seat. Was handed over the PPE kit, but it was not charged for on any of the routes. Face shield, one 3 ply mask and 5 sachets of hand sanitizer are part of the package provided to all passengers free of cost.

In terms of meals, only cashew nuts, cookies, fruit juice, cold coffee and water was available. Not sure about longer duration flights.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by TD_GHY

I recently did a round trip from Guwahati to Kolkata with Indigo. During both the flights, I was assigned the middle seat. Was handed over the PPE kit, but it was not charged for on any of the routes.

I believe He had the aisle seat, hence probably the cost. Anyway this was secondary info so not 100% sure.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

if the middle seat occupant is a family member flanked by family on either side while seated , does the person still need to wear the full PPE kit ?

Yes. On my first flight, a family of three viz. Mother, son and D-I-L were travelling in seats 25 D, E, F. The mom was in the center seat with the suit on.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

I believe He had the aisle seat, hence probably the cost.

True. At BLR, I saw the Indigo agent asking for boarding passes, and issuing PPE suits free to all passengers with B and E seats.

[SoumenD]

A word of caution for travelers from Bangalore. Make sure you start early. I was travelling on 2nd October which was a Friday and long weekend. The queue for entry was longest I ever saw in Bangalore since my 11 years here. Took more than an hour to just enter the premises. What adds to the delay is the contactless scanning at the gate(mind you this aint the post check-in security, rather the one at airport entrance).

Good to see people no more running to collect cabin baggage as soon as the flight lands. Airport authorities have enough security in place but ultimately the onus is on travelers to maintain social distance and keep sanitizing themselves.

Number of flights to tier 2 towns have reduced and hence are always full to the brim. I traveled to Raipur and back and both journeys (2nd Oct & Nov1st) were in jam packed flights. Was good to be travelling again.

P.S: Web checkin is mandatory which means u have to pay for seats now. 99 for middle seats and 150-350 for window/aisle seats.

[saket77]

Thank you for sharing this useful information in the COVID times. However, the lack of social distancing seen at the arrivals is appalling.

Originally Posted by vigsom

2. does not offer seat selection for free – typical seat prices are INR 150-300.
3. If one doesn’t opt for seat selection, the passenger would receive boarding passes with pre-allocated seats.

I booked a couple of tickets from BLR-IXR last week and I didn't see any option for web-check in without selecting seats. In other words, since the Govt has made web-check in mandatory, there is no way you can go through that process on the airliner's website without making a seat selection. So, essentially you are hand twisted to pay for even the least wanted seats- since theoretically it is you who is making the selection. In my experience, the price ranges from 150-700 INR and it is over the price that you pay for the tickets. So, point 3 quoted above is only in theory and not practically possible as of now. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Regards,
Saket

[jaygeetee]

I flew from Delhi to Mumbai last Saturday via Vistara and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by how everything was working like clockwork.
The travellers were patient, tech has become a saviour and everyone seemed to be doing their part.

I think the best part of it was at the end when they asked everyone to stay in their seat and leave in block of 4 rows after landing. Nobody disregarded it, everyone stayed in their seats and followed instructions. I couldn't believe my eyes!

[MMV]

Very informative and useful, thank you.

I just came back yesterday to Mumbai after flying out few days ago. Here are my observations.

Overall people observed social distancing and hygiene, BUT main concern is security check area in Mumbai, too much crowding, last minute rush, panic etc results in people forgetting about COVID. This needs to be worked upon esp considering rush during Diwali and Year end. Better to reach early and give way to people in hurry. Passengers were disciplined while boarding and alighting from flight.


In smaller airports (where I flew back from) security check was handled properly due to limited crowd. Most people are preferring flights against trains and occupancy levels are high (my both flights were 100% occupied).

Big shout to airport staff, security and airline employees for doing their job in testing times.

[RiderZone]

Traveled via a Lufthansa flight yesterday from Delhi to Munich, and interesting to note that almost none of the precautions you mentioned happened. No PPE kit was issued to anyone, all airport staff were in their own clothes, it was just a normal flying experience but with masks. We even got inflight dinner and breakfast, which was unexpected for me.

[Lazy Driver]

Flew yesterday after Feb 2020 & was surprised to see the number of people at the airport. I took the flight from Gorakhpur (UP) & landed at Delhi. While Delhi was absolutely fine, the small size of Gorakhpur aerodrome was a real bummer. Social distancing couldn't be maintained because the space available allowed for only one X-Ray machine & security check-point.

I think UDAN scheme (regional air connectivity) has overachieved government expectations due to Covid because more people prefer flying to minimize external contact & the government should now work on creating airport infrastructure for smaller towns.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by saket77

there is no way you can go through that process on the airliner's website without making a seat selection

I first checked in without seat selection and the final message I got on the screen was that Web Check-in was done and my boarding passes with auto allocated seats would be sent to me 6 hours before flight departure.

After a few minutes, I again logged in, and selected 26D as my seat for both my flights and paid INR 300. The boarding passes then came to my email in 10 minutes.

Originally Posted by jaygeetee

The travellers were patient, tech has become a saviour and everyone seemed to be doing their part.

I think the best part of it was at the end when they asked everyone to stay in their seat and leave in block of 4 rows after landing. Nobody disregarded it

Agree - even I observed that Covid has made some difference to control people's madness; no click click click unfastening of seat belts before the flight came to a stop.

Originally Posted by MMV

main concern is security check area in Mumbai, too much crowding, last minute rush

I saw the same scene at BLR, as described in my post.

Originally Posted by Lazy Driver

I think UDAN scheme (regional air connectivity) has overachieved government expectations due to Covid because more people prefer flying to minimize external contact

Agree; our population is high, and the infrastructure is not able to keep pace with passenger traffic.

When we were taxiing to the parking bay after landing in BLR, the aircraft kept going and going and that is when I saw a lot of work in progress for terminal expansion/ new terminal construction.

BLR definitely needs a larger terminal and many small airports also need to be upgraded eg. Surat has a puny terminal designed for two flights a day, while the traffic has gone up many fold since earlier days.