The Union government’s plan to resume domestic flights from Monday has run into rough weather, with several states suggesting at least a week-long quarantine for airline passengers and some others resisting commercial air transport altogether during the lockdown. For instance, Maharashtra has made it clear that the resumption of flights would not be possible during the lockdown. Following that, Mumbai — a key destination for domestic air travel — will fall off the network. It may be the same for Kolkata as well. The West Bengal government has said it’s busy handling the aftermath of the cyclone and would write to the Centre to defer flights to Bagdogra and Kolkata to May 28 and 30, respectively. Others including Karnataka have asked for stringent quarantine once passengers land, thereby restricting travel to and from another important business hub — Bengaluru.
