In view of the rising cases of Covid 19 across the country, India has extended the suspension on international commercial flights till May 31, 2021. However, passengers who would be traveling under the “air travel bubble” arrangement may continue as scheduled.
Regulation Does Not Apply To Cargo Operations; DGCA
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that the circular that was released on June 26, 2020, which suspended all international commercial passenger flights from/to India has further been extended till May 31, 2021.
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However, the restriction does not apply to any international all-cargo operations and for any flight that is specifically approved by the DGCA. Passenger air services for International flights and domestic flights were suspended last year following the nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the pandemic virus.
But the domestic flight services were resumed from May 25, 2020, and have continued since.
Countries Ban Flights From India Amidst Rising Cases
Many countries across the world including the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada and France have already suspended flights to and from India. They cited the reason bein the massive increase in the number of Covid 19 cases and the “double mutant” virus that has been found in the country recently. Other countries like Iran, Kuwait, Indonesia and UAE have also recently done the same.
The suspension of international commercial flights comes as India continues to face the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic. India recorded 3,86,452 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday and 3,498 deaths, the health ministry data reported.
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A record 2,97,540 passengers were also discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, as per the data released by the Health Ministry.
At the same time, the third phase of Covid 19 vaccines is starting from May 1. The CoWIN app registered over 1.55 crores of registrations on the first day itself.
