Country-specific Covid norms leave air passengers harried

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 23

Passengers intending to board international flights are perturbed at different Covid-19 norms being followed by various countries.

Though international flights are yet to resume regular operations, passengers are travelling under the Vande Bharat Mission and air bubble. Parminder Singh, in his late sixties, says he has been preparing to travel to the UK. “I have to take the help of a travel agency to ensure I do not miss out on any document or test.”

Randhir Singh Bhullar, who arrived from the US recently, says he gave samples a day before boarding the flight and received the report hours before departure. Back in Amritsar, he says the procedure was simple and smooth when he departed from here in April. He blames agents for misleading people. Airline officials at Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport say each international destination has a different set of Covid rules. Airlines change norms frequently and sometimes fail to intimate passengers, they say.

The RTPCR test should be conducted within 72 hours prior to undertaking the journey to the UK and the US. In case of Doha, the test should be conducted 48 hours before boarding. Ashwani Kumar Gupta, tour and travel agent, says expenses have increased manifold as passengers have to quarantine in hotels. In UK, the quarantine period is 10 days. He says most of the passengers heading abroad from the region are students. “On the way to Canada, they stop at Belgrade to quarantine for three days. Canada recently increased the quarantine period to seven days,” he says.