The airline- Vistara is planning to extend its gate-to-gate luggage delivery service to specific flights connecting Hyderabad as well as Bengaluru under which check-in luggage is taken from the home of the passengers before the journey and delivered to their final residing place. The pilot phase of this service was started by the airline in partnership with luggage transfer company CarterX on its Delhi-Mumbai flights from March 13, Vistara’s spokesperson was quoted saying in a PTI report. Basis customer feedback, as well as several other observations, the airline, Vistara plans to progressively introduce this service in other markets as well.
According to the spokesperson, the cities of Bangalore of Hyderabad are already in the pipeline for phase 2 of rolling out this service. However, it has not been decided yet which flight services from Hyderabad and Bengaluru will have this service in phase 2. The spokesperson further mentioned that under this service, the luggage is collected from the doorstep of the customers, every piece of luggage is properly sanitized as well as packed in double-layered, tamper-proof packing materials. Every movement of the luggage is tracked and the airline ensures that they are delivered to their final destination safely, the spokesperson said. Passengers’ luggage pick-ups, as well as deliveries, are entirely contactless. Also, the spokesperson said the staff facilitating the luggage transfer wear PPEs at all times, adding that the transport vehicles are duly sanitized.
Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) recently told airports to consider imposing spot fines on flyers who are found without face masks and not observing social distancing as per the COVID-19 pandemic guidelines. On March 13, airlines and airports were asked by the DGCA to ensure that air passengers during their air travel wear face masks and maintain social distance at all times. Besides, the DGCA also asked them to take action against the passengers violating the COVID-19 norms.
