The Ministry of Civil Aviation has officially re-launched the Air Suvidha portal—branded “Air Suvidha 2.0”—after shelving the original system in March 2024. The upgraded platform, effective 2 July, requires all international arrivals to complete a 21-day travel and symptom history form aimed at screening for Ebola virus disease. The digital form can be submitted no earlier than 24 hours before scheduled departure and must be presented—either printed or on a mobile device—at immigration counters. Data is automatically fed to port-health officers and the Bureau of Immigration, enabling real-time risk scoring and faster ‘green channel’ clearance for low-risk passengers. Unlike its predecessor, Air Suvidha 2.0 leverages DigiLocker single-sign-on and offers API connectivity for airlines, which means passengers on several carriers (including IndiGo and Air India) will see a health-OK tick automatically appended to their boarding passes once the form is validated. Mobility programmes should update pre-departure checklists immediately: failure to upload the form has already led to reports of denied boarding at Singapore, Doha and Frankfurt. Expatriate families returning for the summer holidays should remember that each traveller, including minors, needs a separate submission. Officials stress the measure is “precautionary” and will be reviewed monthly, but industry watchers believe it could become a permanent layer in India’s digital-border toolkit, ready to be toggled on for future health threats.
Source: Indian Aviation News
