Flyer declares he is Covid-19 minutes before take-off to Pune, flight turns back

An IndiGo flight to Pune had to return back to the parking bay after having taxied to a runway of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Thursday evening after one of the passengers on board the aircraft declared that he had received his Covid test report and had tested positive for the virus.

The man was then de-boarded and handed over to health officials at the Delhi airport. The flight finally took off for Pune around 7pm, after a delay of around 90 minutes during which the aircraft was thoroughly sanitised and fumigated, officials said. IndiGo did not confirm how many passengers or crew members were onboard the aircraft. The airline also did not share how many passengers were in direct contact with the passenger who tested Covid-19 positive.

At present, it is mandatory for all flyers from Delhi, Rajasthan, Kerala, Goa, and Gujarat to produce a negative RT-PCR report after landing in Maharashtra.