The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will introduce touchless ticket screening systems at Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport here to avoid the spread of coronavirus.

S. Haokip Jempu, the terminal manager of MBB Airport, told The Telegraph on Wednesday that a meeting was conducted under the chairmanship of the airport director to assess their preparedness in view of the impending resumption of flight operations post-lockdown.

The team inspected all the important areas of the terminal to ensure a foolproof mechanism of non-contact passenger flow while following the guidelines on social distancing.

“In order to avoid any physical touch and direct contact between the passenger and airport staff, we have decided to introduce touchless ticket screening systems. There are a few counters which have barcode readers. More barcode readers will be installed in a phase-wise manner at all other counters too. As most of the tickets issued from travel agencies do not have a bar code, as an interim measure, passengers without barcode will show their PNR to the airline staff at the other side of the enclosure. The airline staff will assist in printing the boarding pass and the passengers will collect it from the printer placed on his side like an ATM-like arrangement,” he said.

Jempu also said as and when check-in at airport is permitted, passengers would be encouraged to self check-in with the barcode provisions. Passengers can also avail of the self check-in kiosk in addition to the check-in counters. They will be required to sanitise their hands before and after using the self check-in kiosk.

The official said passengers or staff would not be allowed to enter the terminal without wearing proper face masks. Moreover, there will be a store set up adjacent to the entry gate for selling PPEs like masks, gloves and sanitisers.