BENGALURU: The Karnataka government’s order on Saturday afternoon making RT-PCR negative reports mandatory for people entering the state from Kerala and Maharashtra caught many travellers, especially those who had planned to take Saturday and Sunday flights, off guard. The reason: A Covid test result takes anywhere between 12 to 24 hours.
However, passengers were a relieved lot as airlines stepped in and relaxed rules till late Sunday. They allowed those with vaccination certificates to travel. Passengers who were wary of taking risks, put off their travel plans.
Karnataka’s earlier policy was to allow those having taken at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to enter the state without an RT-PCR test report.
However, Saturday’s announcement said irrespective of the vaccination status of passengers, they must carry an RT-PCR negative report not more than 72 hours old. The order also said airlines should not issue boarding passes to people without the test report.
“My Air Asia flight to Bengaluru from Kochi was on Sunday afternoon and I learnt of the order only on Saturday evening,” said K Ajayan from Ernakulam in Kerala, who works at an IT firm in Kadubeesanahalli, Bengaluru.
“Since Kerala remains under weekend lockdown, I couldn’t find a lab to take a Covid test on time and I had to postpone my trip to Tuesday.”
Many people scheduled to fly to Karnataka from different parts of Kerala and Maharashtra made frantic calls to airline helplines with queries on their planned trip. Following this, most domestic airlines relaxed the RT-PCR report rule on Saturday and Sunday.
“We understand it is difficult for passengers booked to fly on Saturday and Sunday to get a Covid test result in a short period. Therefore, we decided to extend the vaccination certificate rule till Sunday and passengers without tests were allowed to board. But from Monday, those flying in from Maharashtra and Kerala must have a Covid negative report,” said an IndiGo airlines staffer at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA).
Other airlines followed suit on Sunday, and staffers, on behalf of the state health department, inspected Covid negative certificates of passengers from the two states who landed in Bengaluru.
From Monday passengers flying in from Maharashtra and Kerala will not be issued boarding passes if they don’t produce RT-PCR negative reports at their port of boarding, sources said.
