Suspension of international flights extended till April 30, apart from approved routes

The suspension of international flights extended till April 30, apart from the ones plying on approved routes, DGCA said on Tuesday in its revised order.

The director-general of civil aviation on Tuesday extended the suspension of international flights in India till April 30. However, this is not applicable to those flights which have already approved by the authorities. The directive comes as the ministry of home affairs on Tuesday issued new directives to be implemented in the country in April, amid a surge of Covid-19 cases.

File photo of Covid-19 testing setup at Delhi Airport in New Delhi. (PTI)

International flights were suspended in March 2020, after a nationwide lockdown was imposed in view of the Cocid-19 pandemic breakout. In May 2020, the government launched the Vande Bharat Mission to evacuate Indian stranded abroad. The mission currently is in its 10th phase.

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In the process of gradual resumption of international flights, India signed transport bubbles or air travel arrangements with countries allowing two-way resumption of commercial passenger services. At present, international flight services are allowed between India and 27 countries, including Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Maldives, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States and Uzbekistan.

Though there has been a brief suspension on flights between India and the UK in December in the wake of the outbreak of the mutant strain, services between the two countries have resumed in January, this year.