Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan today demanded that long haul flights to major cities in India may be extended to an airport in Kerala to facilitate the pravasies from undergoing multiple quarantine in two places. He also requested for changes in quarantine rules to enable them to reach Kerala earlier.

The Chief Minister said, “People who come from countries that require more than ten hours of travel often have to travel to Delhi, Mumbai or Bangalore. There are plenty of travellers to Kerala on these flights. Considering this, the central government should direct the airlines to extend these flights to any airport in Kerala. Moreover, passengers who reach these places are quarantined there and when they come to Kerala, they should go to quarantine again. In such cases, special criteria should be established. If the flights cannot be extended to Kerala, the state is of the view that those who book their tickets to Kerala within five days of their arrival, should be permitted to travel home for further quarantine.”

Large aeroplanes should be used for flying long distances over 10 hours and if Air India does not have enough aircraft, it should consider hiring aircraft from other companies.The CM also asked the central government to provide emergency financial assistance to the expatriate Indians who have lost their jobs following the Covid outbreak. “With the loss of jobs, they have also lost their social security in those countries”.

Minister of Health & Social Justice, Smt K K Shailaja; Revenue Minister, Shri E Chandrasekharan, and Chief Secretary, Dr Vishwas Mehta IAS, were also present for the briefing.