NEW DELHI: Upping precautionary measures to make air travel safer for passengers worried about contracting Covid-19, Air India has asked its housekeeping staff to clean all seats in the row where the passenger with respiratory symptoms was seated, along with three rows immediately in front and behind with a 70% alcohol-based cleanser or Lyzol on landing. The crew has also been asked to inform the ground staff of any such passengers travelling on the flight before landing.“This is season change time and we have scores of people coughing and sneezing, which are the visible signs to look out for. Reporting passengers who were doing so on a flight to housekeeping and then having the aircraft cleaned means getting all seats rigorously cleaned,” said a senior crew member. All airlines have enhanced aircraft cleaning and issued similar instructions, hence facing the same issue.A narrow body aircraft, usually, completes several flights by the time a passenger tests Covid-19 positive, when the test result comes several hours later. Tracing who all he/she might have been in contact with during the flight and then who all sat on the seat occupied by the patient on subsequent flights is a nightmare, said another crew member.“If a confirmed case is reported and the aircraft is on the ground for a few hours, then wiping clean interiors of the aircraft such as overhead bins, all seats, all toilets with alcohol-based cleanser (70% alcohol) / Lyzol cleanser should be carried out. The cleaning/ housekeeping personnel should be given appropriate personal protection equipment like gloves, masks etc,” the AI order says.Airport operators, on their part, are also having a tough time. The health ministry has directed separate passage in immigration, customs and baggage bay for flyers from some Coronavirus hotspot countries. Airports Authority of India tweeted on Saturday: “International airports instructed to segregate passengers arriving from China, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Iran, Singapore, Thailand , Malaysia, Hongkong, Vietnam, Nepal and Indonesia from other arriving passengers. These passengers from 12 countries shall also be prohibited from mixing in health screening, immigration and conveyer belt areas.”Now given the infra constraint at almost all Indian airports, this is easier said than done. “We will try to do this wherever possible,” said a source.