Passengers who refuse to wear masks will be de-boarded ahead of take-off or treated as unruly passengers, said the civil aviation regulator DGCA on Wednesday in a communication. The lack of masks at airports and in flights has been made actionable again as Covid numbers started climbing in parts of the country. The fresh DGCA guidelines came days after the Delhi High Court ordered a tough line against passengers who refuse to comply with Covid safety measures.
In its order, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said: “The Airline shall ensure that in case any passenger does not adhere to instructions even after repeated warnings, he/she should be de-boarded, if need be, before departure.” In case any passenger on board an aircraft refuses to wear mask or violates the “COVID-19 Protocol for passengers” even after repeated warnings, during the course of the flight, such passenger may be treated as “Unruly Passenger.”