IMPORTANT NEWS FOR DOMESTIC AIR PASSENGERS: Now Only ‘One Hand Bag’ Allowed With Single Check-In Baggage In Flights Due To COVID-19

By Spreadit English Last updated Jan 22, 2022

Frequent Domestic Flyers, here is some important news for you, Amid the third COVID 19 surge across the country, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has announced the ‘One Hand Bag Rule’ across all airports in India. According to this order, you can carry only one cabin of luggage on domestic flights. This order came to reduce the congestion and burden at screening points of the airport which is often crowded with long queues and no social distancing.

All airlines and airport operators may be instructed to take steps to implement the 'One Hand Bag rule' meticulously on the ground to ease out the congestion and other security concerns: CISF IG (airport sector) Vijay Prakash in a letter to DG, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security pic.twitter.com/bNPujr8itV

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— ANI (@ANI) January 21, 2022

The order said that no passenger can carry more than one handbag other than those items already listed in the circular including lady’s bag’. The new rule comes as an additional restriction for travellers after the Centre had already imposed a one-bag policy for check-in baggage to ease congestion and to ease congestion amid the pandemic.

Civil aviation said that they have seen passengers carrying 2 to 3 handbags at the screening point. “This has led to increased clearance time as well as delays, congestion in PESC point and inconvenience to passengers,” the order said.

The BCAS ordered the airport authorities, airlines, stakeholders to make sure this new rule is advertised everywhere in the airport by displaying it on hoardings, tickets, boarding passes etc. They also added that the airlines must check that only one hand baggage is allowed.

During the holiday season, there was a lot of people’s traffic at airports where the long queues didn’t see an end. People carry two-three handbags together with them to avoid waiting at the cargo bay. However, this has led to more congestion and absolutely no social distancing amid COVID 19.

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