Recently, the Tamil Nadu state government extended the state-wide lockdown till March 31, and has listed out the advisories that have been issued by the Centre. As per the order, the district administration will be enforcing strict measures to manage the spread of COVID-19.
Also, as per the new quarantine restriction order for travellers from Maharashtra, which require them to undergo isolation for seven days, leisure and business traffic between Mumbai and Chennai is already affected. It is the third busiest route from the city.
Tamil Nadu has announced that passengers arriving from Mumbai will have to undergo home quarantine for seven days. Likewise, those arriving in Karnataka, Delhi, and West Bengal will have to provide COVID-19 negative certificates. Referring to the current rules and regulations, an airlines official mentioned that it is likely that there will be a dip in the number of passengers, as those travelling for leisure might not consider flying to Chennai because of the quarantine rules.
Reportedly, no large scale cancellation of tickets has been recorded yet. Around 12 flights operate in Mumbai-Chennai-Mumbai sector, which is also one of the high-revenue earning sectors for airlines. Further, the Chennai-Mumbai route had also been one of the top routes as several international travellers used to fly via Mumbai.
An official from Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) added that the quarantine measure will be affecting the travel sector as fear among transit passengers will also grow. He added that although there is no restriction for transit passengers, those who fly via Mumbai to foreign countries are asking to shift their ticket to Delhi, and those returning to India too have started to prefer Delhi. This trend has led to a reduction in fare to international destinations from Mumbai due to a dip in demand.
The official, however, emphasises that this could be an initial reaction to the states clamping quarantine restrictions on Maharashtra, but they are expecting this concern to fade out in the coming days.
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