Covid-19 travel UPDATE: Govt issues new guidelines for international arrivals at airport

Before RT-PCR negative test reports became required for visitors from six countries, including China and Thailand, the Ministry of Civil Aviation announced amended Covid instructions for travellers arriving on foreign flights on Friday. From January 1, 2023, all passengers arriving on international flights from China, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, and Japan must present a pre-departure RT-PCR negative test report.

Airlines are directed to modify their check-in functionalities to incorporate the changes and issue boarding passes only to those international passengers travelling from the six countries who have submitted self-declaration forms on the Air Suvidha portal, the ministry said in a communication.

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"Air Suvidha portal self-declaration has been made operational for passengers travelling in all international flights from China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, Thailand and Japan, with a provision to allow these international travellers arriving in India to upload negative RT-PCR test reports as well as to submit self-declaration form," it said.

RT-PCR testing should have been done 72 hours prior to undertaking the journey. The current practice of random testing of 2 per cent of arriving passengers in each international flight will also continue.

These decisions have been taken amid rising cases of coronavirus infections in various parts of the world and reports regarding the circulation of variants of SARS-CoV-2 in the six countries.

The ministry on Friday sent the communication regarding the revised guidelines to all scheduled commercial airlines, airport operators, and chief secretaries/ administrators of states/Union Territories, among others. On December 29, there were 83,003 international passenger arrivals, as per the latest official data.

With PTI inputs