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A Brief experience of my recent air travel.
With the resumption of domestic travel in India, I flew from Del to Srinagar on May 25.
With the resumption of domestic travel in India, I flew from Del to Srinagar on May 25.
To begin with, I was mentally prepared for it to be a little tougher than usual. So please set your expectations accordingly.
The boarding pass and bag labels are to be printed in advance. If you don't have a printer, a simple pape with the flight details can be pasted on the bag.
I made it to the airport 3 hours before the departure. Two hours should be fine. It was not as crowded as expected, however the media attention was something irritating, cameramen on your face, waiting for thier one shot or byte. Anyway, that is their job, I shouldn't be cynical
Outside the airport, there are kiosks, selling;masks, face shields, sanitizers and PPE( not sure about this though). If incase, you want to buy one, can buy it at the airport. But, worthwhile to arrange all this in advance.
At the entrance, the lines look long, due to social distancing norms but they aren't long. Each flight has its on designated gate, for eg, indigo is gate 4-5. There are signs indicating the gates.
Also, there are boarding pass printing kiosks outside the gate, a barcode scan on your phone will give you a boarding pass. There were no trolleys available at the departure gate, however i did see a few people with trolleys, maybe you have to request for one.
At the first entrance, the security staff, stand behind a protective glass wall and check for your boarding pass and identity Card. You have to pull down your mask for them to accertain your identity.
One you walk in, another airport staff, will check your temp, using a thermal thermometer, you will also have to show the arogya setu status on your phone. However, I missed the thermal body scanner. I didn't aee any.
Once inside , you straight walk to the airline counter, drop your bag , there are people on counters to assist, incase you are wondering there aren't any.
One advise, travel light, as much as possible
One advise, travel light, as much as possible
walk to the security check-in, the lines again look long, but they aren't, take a tray and scan your belongings, men should take out their belts in advance, a lot of people miss out this.
The security men, will scan you, at the same time maintain distance and allow you to proceed. Inside the airport, all the eatries are open, with take way facilities.There are signages all around with barcodes of the eatries, scan and order, they will find you & deliver your food
The waiting lounge has proper and organized seatings, the middle seat have been marked out and you shouldn't sit on them.
The washrooms are super clean, I did see staff disinfecting them after use.
The washrooms are super clean, I did see staff disinfecting them after use.
Before boarding, the airline staff provided the passengers with face shields, masks and sanitizers. While boarding, people are advised to pick a bottle of water at the entrance of the flight. The crew does not serve during the flight
In aircraft, the crew is in ppe suits,expect them not to help you much, for obvious reasons, sought out your seats on your own. Also, the overhead space for hand bags is out of reach now. You have to put your handbags under your seat. Again, travel light.
Through out the flight, you have to put on your masks and shields , might be a little difficult but it's managble. Keep your mind occupied. Read something, watch something, whatever keeps you distracted.
On arrival in Sxr, poeple were let off the flight in an order, two seats at a time. You walk the tarmac in a queue, and while heading in, there are registation desks, should be 30-50. You are registered, electronically by the staff & they write the number on your boarding pass.
While heading in, a guy on a computer, will read your name for confirmation of registration. Inside, you collect your bags and again, people head out in a queue.
There are health department registration desks and they fill in your details on pre marked application forms. Ask for details , address, phone , email and symptoms if any. Once the form is done, they hand over you a testing kit with a sample number on it.
You head out with your kit, outside the departure gate, there are kiosks with healthworkers waiting. You will be directed to one such kiosk and tested. Testing is a little irritating but the irritation does not last for more than 10 mins.
once tested, you head out and there are tents with their respective district signs. Walk to your tent and someone there will fill in your details again. Just the name address and flight number.
expect a waiting period of 45-60 mins before you are boarded on buses to TRC. The busses aren't that comfortable but it's not much of a travel, so managable. On arrival in TRC, walk in and things are a little messy. Not as organized as the airport.
There are hotels for paid qurantine and a desk for govt qurantine. I walked to one such hotel , for the paid quarantine. The govt has set fixed rates for all hotels.
I was at a hotel, Solomon Heights. Wonderful property, the owner was really warm and supportive. There were 5 of us in the property and it was really a very pleasant stay. The meals were decent, the staff was very supportive.
Another picture of the property
The staff was super supportive. The owner got me connected on his internet. Whivh was really helpful
Last night, roughly 24 hours after the testing, was informed by the hotel desk that we have tested negative and the adminstartive team will be come with realse orders tomorrow.
This morning, a team of doctors came and signed us off against covid 19 and have been advised to home qurantine.
There were a few formalities before they handed the release token.
It was smooth, my expectations were not that very high and I was prepared to stay in admin qurantine for a longer time.
Now, I'm home Quarantined for next two weeks. I think, it makes sense. For the safety of my family, I m putting up in my room, for next 12 days.
Anyway, if you are flying, please travel light . Stay safe, use protective gear and manage your expectations.
