Updated: August 31, 2020 7:20:41 pm
A queue of planes parked in Germany. PTI photo
The General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has extended the ban on scheduled international commercial flights by one month until September 30 from the current date of August 31.
This means that scheduled international passenger flights will have been suspended for a period of more than six months since March 23, when they were stopped for the first time to contain the transmission of the new coronavirus that has caused the Covid-19 pandemic.
Why has the DGCA expanded the ban?
The government has said that the relaxation of international flights will depend on how the virus behaves and how cases are recorded in India and in destination countries. With this in mind, scheduled international flights have been further suspended.
Does this mean that international flights that were to arrive and depart during the next month will be canceled?
If a passenger has booked tickets for flights operated under government air bubble agreements with Indian or foreign airlines or with the Vande Bharat Mission, those flights will continue to operate on schedule.
The DGCA has allowed international flights on selected routes such as the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, United Arab Emirates, Maldives, etc., as appropriate.
In addition, the regulator also allows international cargo flights to be operated.
When are scheduled international flights expected to resume?
The resumption of regular international operations remains a function of the destination jurisdictions that allow travel from India.
Speaking recently at The Indian Express brainstorming event, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri alluded to the fact that it was difficult to anticipate when other countries would allow people from India to enter their borders.
“In our case, we started with a mandatory 14-day quarantine: 7 institutional days and 7 days of self-quarantine. Now we have introduced an innovation, if you carry a certificate of an RT-PCR test carried out in the last 96 hours you can go through the green channel. We are opening these things so that we can move towards normality ”, he had said.
📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay up to date with the latest headlines
For the latest news explained, download the Indian Express app.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
.
