New Delhi, March 3 (IANS): The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday directed all the airlines to disinfect aircraft coming in from South Korea, Japan and Italy before passengers board them for the next flight.

It said that boarding of passengers on the flights for the next flight shall commence only after the thermal scanning and immigration clearance of incoming passengers is obtained.

"In case of disembarkation, passengers from Italy, Japan and SOuth Korea or from a flight wherein a passenger has been identified as a suspect for COVID-19 at non-aerobridge bay, and a vehicle has been utilised for transporation of passegners from bay to the terminal building, all such vehicles should also be subjected to disinfection/cleaning process," said the DGCA circular.

The aviation regulator said that all ground staff entering inbound or outbound international flights shall be provided with personnel protective equipments (PPE) and such equipments shall be disposed of in an appropriate manner after handling of each flight.

It further directed that all staff at airport like immigration, health, security, check-in counter staff and others who are exposed to potential or possible infected passengers or co-workers should be mandatorily provided with PPEs.

"Operations to ensure that adequate PPEs are available on board all the aircraft for distribution to passengers on need or request basis for international and domestic sectors both," it said.