Starting Thursday, flyers reaching the city’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport from or transiting through the UK, Europe, Middle East, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand and Zimbabwe will have to compulsorily go for self-paid RT-PCR tests on arrival. This follows the government’s decision to do away with institutional quarantine. The tests will help authorities keep a track of more transmissible variants of COVID, said officials.

Each such traveller will be charged Rs 600 for the test, which has been fixed by the government. Officials said arrangements to facilitate registration and the test have already been made by the airport operator. About 600 passengers can be put through the test in an hour, they said. Following the self-paid tests at the airport, the passengers will be required to be under home quarantine for 14 days.