New Delhi: With new international travel guidelines put in place to quickly contain the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, if detected, Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport has said that it has prepared facilities to accommodate up to 1,500 international passengers till their RT-PCR results arrive — further saying that international passengers from the "at-risk" countries might have to wait for as long as six hours in the airport after landing, officials here said on Tuesday.
Each passenger who will undergo the RT-PCR test will be charged around Rs 1,700. The amount includes charges for the RT-PCR test, and
food and water during their stay at the airport till the test results come, the airport officials added.
The officials said that arrangements have been made at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in the national capital to implement the new guidelines and ensure necessary social distancing among passengers.
The airport can accommodate 1,400-1,500 passengers at a time, including those coming from 'at-risk' countries, inside the airport. The passengers will have to spent at least six hours at the premises, including waiting for the RT-PCR test results, they added.
According to the officials, the testing facility at the airport can take 400-500 samples in one hour and one test result is expected in four hours or more time. The immigration process will be done for the passengers only after their test results come. If required, the facilities for the passengers can be scaled up, the officials said.
Currently, at the IGIA, the country's largest airport operated by the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), international operations are from Terminal 3 (T3). On average, over 10 international flights land at the Delhi airport daily.
On Monday, a GMR spokesperson said all necessary arrangements will be ready on time keeping in mind the fresh guidelines and passenger convenience. "We have made similar arrangements earlier as well during previous waves of the pandemic. We will ensure adherence to COVID-19 protocol during the stay of passengers inside the terminal," the spokesperson had said.
GMR is the majority stakeholder in Delhi International Airport Limited — the company that operates the
Indira Gandhi International Airport here.
While India has not reported Omicron cases so far, the Union government has advised states and Union Territories to ramp up testing for early identification of any cases, undertake effective surveillance of international passengers and strictly monitor hotspots.
Under the guidelines, all passengers coming from 'at-risk' countries have to compulsorily undergo RT-PCR tests and five per cent of passengers arriving from other countries would also have to take the test on a random basis. The passengers will have to wait for the results before leaving the airport or taking a connecting flight.