Ban on International Flights Extended Till June 30 by DGCA Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

New Delhi, May 28: The Centre on Friday extended the ban on international commercial flights till June 30 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a circular in this regard. The ban on international flights has been in place since the outbreak of COVID-19 in India since March 23, 2020. The ban was scheduled to end on May 31.

The DGCA, in its circular, said, "In a partial modification of circular dated 26-06-2020, the competent authority has further extended the validity of circular issued on the subject cited above regarding Scheduled International commercial passenger services to/from India till 2359 IST of June 30, 2021." Passengers Violating COVID-19 Protocol May Be Fined on Spot, DGCA Tells Airports.

The order further reads that international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on case to case basis. The restrictions will not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights which are specifically approved by the DGCA.

Tweet by DGCA: 

The flight operations were banned in the country on March 23, 2020, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, domestic flight operations commenced on May 25 last year. Notably, air bubble pacts have been formed with 27 countries, including the United Kingdom, the USA and the UAE.

India on Friday reported 1,86,364 fresh COVID-19 cases while 3,660 patients succumbed to the coronavirus in the past 24 hours. This is for the second time since April 14 that India has recorded less than two lakh coronavirus infections. India's overall tally of COVID-19 cases now stands at 2,75,55,457 with 23,43,152 active cases, and 3,18,895 deaths, so far.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 28, 2021 04:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).