‘Flight Middle Seats to Be Kept Vacant to Possible Extent’: DGCA

DGCA had said the suspension of scheduled international passenger flights will continue till midnight on 30 June.

(Photo: PTI)

“Airlines will allot seats in such a manner that middle seats in flights are kept vacant to possible extent,” the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said on Monday, 1 June, as the fifth phase of the lockdown ‘Unlock 1’ began.

DGCA added that if a passenger is allocated middle seat on flight, “wrap-around gown” should be provided to him or her in addition to face mask, shield.

According to the DGCA guidelines, the airlines shall allot the seats in such a manner that the middle seat is kept vacant if the passenger load and seat capacity permit the same.

However, the members of same family may be alllowed to sit together.

Further, all passengers shall be provided with safety kits by the airlines, which shall include three-layered surgical mask, face shield and adequate sanitizer.

This comes a week after the Supreme Court announced on 25 May, that all the special repatriation flights to bring stranded Indians home will have to keep the middle seats vacant. Air India would be allowed to operate flights with the middle seat filled only for the next ten days said the apex court, according to a PTI report then.

The Indian aviation regulator, DGCA, on Saturday said the suspension of scheduled international commercial passenger flights will continue till midnight on 30 June.

Meanwhile, India recorded 1,90,535 COVID-19 cases on Monday with 8,392 new cases in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry. The number of active cases is 93,322 and as many as 91,818 people have recovered, while 5,394 deaths have been recorded.