India’s airports begin to reopen

After two months of closures, airports across India begin reopening today, May 25.

However, don’t expect the airports to look the same as they did before the global coronavirus pandemic broke out earlier this year.

As CNN’s Vedika Sud reports, technology and social distancing are both playing a major role in keeping travelers safe.

At Indira Gandhi International Airport, which serves the national capital of New Delhi, travelers are now required to check in online before they come to the airport and then scan their boarding passes in order to enter the building.

Security queues are spaced out so that passengers can socially distance, and everyone must walk through a temperature screening station and fill out a travel declaration form.

Once they’ve gotten through security and into the departure area, travelers will notice that chairs have been spaced out and there are floor markers to indicate where to stand.

A worker marks squares on the ground at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad.

But there will be different experiences on board the planes as well.

Cabin crew are required to wear full-body PPE, while passengers must sport masks. For the time being, there’s no food or drink service on planes, but passengers are allowed to bring some items with them – provided the food is “dry” (think chips or crackers) and not “wet.”

Travelers will also be permitted only one small piece of carry-on luggage (like a purse, laptop bag or briefcase) per person, and everything else has to be checked.

Currently, only domestic flights are operating on carriers like Air India and SpiceJet as India’s borders remain closed to non-residents.

In order to keep prices from getting out of control, the government has instituted price caps on tickets.

According to data from the World Health Organization, India has 131,868 confirmed cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus and there have been 3,867 deaths.