Vizag airport stands out as coronavirus-free for staff

Visakhapatnam: At a workplace where there is a regular movement of national as well as international travellers, there is no single Covid-19 positive case registered so far.

When several localities, commercial places and establishments across the country continue to record coronavirus positive cases, Visakhapatnam Airport turns out to be an exception. Touchwood!

The staff members attribute credit to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for taking concrete safety measures at workplace as they look forward to attending to the duty sans any trace of fear of getting infected.

From arrival and departure halls to tunnels, aerobridges to railings, toilets to corridors and seating arrangements, sanitising is done before and after each arrival at the airport.

About 4,930 passengers arrived in Visakhapatnam via 37 Vande Bharat flights from across the world. A number of travellers, who arrived from high risk places such as UAE, Philippines, Ukraine, Oman and Malaysia at Visakhapatnam, were tested positive for virus after screening. However, the staff, who catered to the passengers from the time they landed to the time they left the premises, remained unaffected. The prime reason for this is the attention paid to the staff in maintaining safety standards. On an average, Visakhapatnam airport registers a movement of 1,400 to 1,500 passengers a day. About 600 staff members, including regular, outsourced and staff from various airlines, cater to the passengers in each shift.

An army of 2,000 staff, including 250 Central Industrial Security Force personnel, 82 AAI staff, work at Visakhapatnam airport in various wings. "Even if a single person tests positive at the airport, there is a higher possibility of the infection getting spread through primary contacts. Keeping this in view, we ensured to supply PPE kits to those who screened the passengers at the premises. Besides, we also made an effort to carry out touch-free screening for ticketing, luggage-scanning and boarding for passengers in Visakhapatnam much ahead," says M Raja Kishore, Airport Director.

This apart, special care was taken when Vande Bharat flights arrived at Visakhapatnam, the director adds. While maintaining social distancing, wearing masks, face shields, a pair of gloves have been made mandatory for the staff in the airport. Fortunately, they adhere to Covid-19 protocol in safeguarding themselves against the virus.