India scraps Air Suvidha form filling for international arrivals

As per the latest development,the Ministry of Civil Aviation has now decided to lift the mandate of filling up the Air Suvidha form for all international passengers.

Air Suvidha is an online system that was put into place for International passengers to submit a mandatory ‘Self Declaration’ form to declare their current health status. This form was made mandatory, whereas all international passengers entering the country via flights were required to fill it before boarding.

So with this latest development, iInternational travellers entering India will no longer be required to fill up the said self-declaration form, called Air Suvidha, for COVID-19 related screening of passengers. Also, passengers will not be required to submit a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR report.

If reports are to go by, these relaxations will come into effect from November 22, and will be a part of the revised guidelines for international arrivals issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday.

The latest guideline states, “All travellers should preferably be fully vaccinated as per the approved primary schedule of vaccination against COVID-19 in their country.”

However, flight crew will still be making in-flight announcements with regard to various COVID-19 protocols, including masking and physical distancing during air travel. Those travelling will also have to undergo thermal screening on arrival, whereas those who show COVID-19 symptoms, they will be shifted to an isolation facility for follow-up treatment.

As reported earlier, the Ministry of Civil Aviation also removed penalties for not masking during air travel.