New Delhi, May 23: India's Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday hinted at the resumption of international flight operations, which has been suspended since the nationwide lockdown on March 25. "We will try to start good percentage of international passenger flights before August," Hardeep Singh Puri said. "We are doing the best we can and adding more flights," he added. Rules For Passengers, Airlines: Self-Declaration Form Mandatory; Here's What is Allowed at Airports And During Flight Travel, What Isn't.

Ever since the imposition of the nationwide lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the country on March 25, passenger air services were suspended for both scheduled domestic and international flights. Puri had on Wednesday announced the resumption of domestic passenger flight operations from May 25, exactly two months after suspending them under the national lockdown norms.

Speaking of Aarogya Setu app, the minister said air passengers with green status on the application won't be quarantined. "If you have taken a test and your test report is negative, following you don't have any symptoms, so I believe there should be no need for quarantine. The Arogya Setu app is like a passport, if your status on the app is green. Why should anyone want any quarantine," Puri said.

Here it may be noted that some states have announced that air passengers will be quarantined once they land. According to guidelines issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, passengers will be allowed to travel via flight only if they have Aarogya Setu app or submit self-declaration form that they did not contract coronavirus in the past two months. The self-declaration form will require the passenger to say "I/We have not tested positive for COVID in the last two months", among other assertions.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 23, 2020 02:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).