In wake of the Omicron Variant of Covid-19, all travelers from ‘At-Risk’ countries, arriving at 6 major airports in India will have to mandatorily prebook a Covid-19 test starting from December 20th.
As per the directive of the Indian Govt, passengers arriving at Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai airports must pre-book RT-PCR or Rapid PCR tests which they need to undergo on arrival.
It must be noted that passengers who have not pre-booked their tests will be allowed to board their flight but the concerned airlines will be responsible for book tests for such passengers.
A notification issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) Govt of India stated;
“Air Suvidha portal would be modified to allow the passengers to mandatorily pre-book the RT-PCR test if they are coming from the countries ‘at risk’ or have visited ‘at risk’ countries in the last 14 days…
to stabilise the system and to ensure that the passengers would not have any problem in pre-booking, payment, etc, it may be implemented in six metro cities, namely, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad in the first phase.”
List of Countries ‘At-Risk’
Earlier this month India has updated its list of ‘At Risk’ countries and added Ghana and Tanzania to the list. Moreover, India has removed Singapore from the list. At present, the following 12, countries are on the ‘At Risk’ list of India,
- European countries, including the UK
- South Africa
- Brazil
- Botswana
- China
- Ghana
- Mauritius
- New Zealand
- Tanzania
- Zimbabwe
- Hong Kong and
- Israel
How to pre-book Covid-19 tests?
Here’s how international travelers arriving in India can pre-book their slots online for respective Covid-19 at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, or otherwise:
Visit the official website for the international airport of the city you are traveling to. For convenience, here are the ones for Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata.
Look for an option called ‘Book Covid-19 Test’ on the top panel.
Next, select travel type (in this case, international arrival).
Fill up all personal details such as name, email ID, mobile number, Aadhaar card/passport number, address, appointment date, time slot, etc.
After entering all the details, select the type of test (in this case, RT-PCR, though Rapid PCR testing is available as well)
Follow the instructions displayed on the screen, and book a slot for your RT-PCR test on arrival at the airport.
It may be noted that all international passengers are mandated to follow the below measures arriving/transiting from Countries at-risk.
- Submit self-declaration form on Air Suvidha portal.
- Upload negative RT-PCR report (conducted within 72 hrs. before the journey)
- Post-arrival COVID-19 test at arriving Airport (self-paid)
- Home quarantine for 7 days,
- Re-test on the 8th day and if negative, self-health monitoring for next 7 days
Amid these new rules, the rates of the Rapid PCR, RT-PCR test, long queues, crowding, and potential delays have been major concerns for international travelers arriving into the country.
Rates of Covid-19 Test At International Airports In India
| S. No. | Airport | Cost of RT-PCR | Cost of Rapid PCR |
| 1 | Mumbai | 500 | 1975 |
| 2 | Delhi | 500 | 3500 |
| 3 | Chennai | 600 | 2900 |
| 4 | Kolkata | 600 | 2900 |
| 5 | Bengaluru | 500 | 2750 |
| 6 | Ahmedabad | – | 2700 |
| 7 | Kozhikode | – | 1580 |
| 8 | Hyderabad | 750 | 3900 |
| 9 | Goa | – | 2400 |
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