RT-PCR booking mandatory for international arrivals at these airports | Fusion - WeRIndia

Due to the pandemic, many nations are implementing various rules to control the transmission of the virus.  The majority of nations announced travel rules for international passengers arriving from countries ‘at-risk’. India also issues guidelines from time to time.

Now, the Government of India mandated pre-booking of RT-PCR tests for international passengers arriving from ‘at-risk’ countries. The test is also mandatory for passengers who have been in these countries for the last 14 days. The rule will come into effect from December 20.

The UK government also issued similar guidelines making pre-booking for RT-PCR tests mandatory for international passengers. As per these guidelines, passengers would not be allowed to board flights to British airports if they do not have the pre-booking for the COVID-19 test.

But, India allows passengers to board the flight if they cannot pre-book for the RT-PCR test due to some issue. However, they have to fulfil it with the help of the airline they are boarding. In other words, the airlines should take the responsibility of completing the registration for pre-booking.

As per the latest rules, passengers coming from ‘at-risk’ countries to six main airports in the country have to pre-book for the RT-PCR test on their arrival.

These six airports are Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. Initially, the government decided to implement it in these six metro cities.

The Civil Aviation Ministry said that the government would modify the Air Suvidha portal to make the pre-booking of the RT-PCR test mandatory for flyers coming from ‘at-risk countries’ or who have visited these countries in the past 14 days.

The Ministry directed DGCA to issue an advisory to airlines on this matter. All airlines should check whether their passengers pre-booked for the test before boarding the flight. They should also help flyers who have trouble with pre-booking by accompanying them to the registration counter for testing.

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Image Reference: https://pixabay.com/photos/test-tube-covid-19-mask-face-mask-5065426/