New Delhi: India has done away with the condition of filling the air facility form for international passengers. The government has said in a notice that foreign passengers coming to India will no longer be required to fill self-declaration forms. This decision has come into effect from midnight on Monday.
So far, it was necessary to fill this form before boarding. Frequent flyers and the travel industry were demanding doing away with the condition of filling and submitting air facility forms before flying to India.
“In view of the steady decline in COVID-19 cases globally and nationally and in the light of significant progress in vaccination coverage of COVID-19, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued ‘Revised Guidelines for International Arrivals’. Submission of self-declaration forms on the online Air Suvidha portal has been stopped under the revised guidelines of the Health Ministry.” However, the ministry further added, “In view of the COVID-19 situation, this rule may be reviewed further as and when required.”
With this, it is no longer mandatory to get the corona vaccine for international arrivals. However, getting vaccinated is better in terms of safety. Recently, the government had announced that it is not necessary to wear a mask on the flight. But in view of Covid-19, masks must be worn as precautionary measures. But if someone does not wear a mask, no fine will be imposed for it.
The Air Suvidha portal was launched in August 2020 during the peak of the Corona pandemic. Through this air facility form, a complete record of all the passengers coming from abroad is kept, such as where they have come from, where they are going, full address of which countries they went to earlier, their mobile number, email address, passport details, suspicious symptoms etc.
This exercise was started so that passengers who were infected with corona and those who came in contact with them could be identified and if needed, they could be traced and isolated. Boarding pass was issued from the airlines only after giving the registration number of this form.