Beginning May 17 at midnight, Delhi International Airport will shut down its Terminal 2. This is being done keeping in mind the significant reduction in the number of flights since the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country.
On Tuesday, airport officials stated that from May 17 all flights will be operated from only T3.
Presently, Delhi airport is administering around 325 flights per day, while before the pandemic, they used to handle around 1,500 flights per day.
Airport officials informed passengers via a Twitter post which stated that "All flight operations at #DelhiAirport will be shifted to T3 from May 18 at 0001 hours. All passengers are required to complete their web check-in at home for a contactless journey.&rdquo
The airport has also stated that RT-PCR is not mandatory to enter the airport, but passengers must check with their respective airlines for guidelines.
The decision has come at a time when India and its aviation sector have been hit hard by the second wave of COVID-19.
According to the Civil Aviation Ministry's data, the number of domestic air passengers per day has dropped from more than 2.2 lakh to around 75,000 right now during the last few weeks.
The second wave of the pandemic has also similarly affected international air traffic from the country&rsquos capital. Delhi airport which had resumed the operations of Terminal 2 in October, stated that it will remain shut until further notice.
The Union Health Ministry data, updated on Tuesday, states that the count of new cases of coronavirus in India reduced to 3.29 lakh after 14 days of strict restrictions, taking the total tally of COVID-19 infections to 2,29,92,517.
Last month, in an order, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority of the Government of NCT of Delhi had urged all its district units to conduct random testing (RAT/RT-PCR) of passengers (coming from the states where COVID-19 cases are surging or rapidly increasing) at airports.