Amid the increase in number of COVID-19 cases, The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a circular on Friday extending the suspension on scheduled commercial international flight operations to and from India till July 31.
As per the circular issued, the restriction will not apply to all cargo operations and flights approved by the Director General.
It said, “In partial modification of circular dad 26-06-2020, the competent authority has extended the validity of circular issued on the subject ad above regarding Scheduled international commercial passenger services to/from India till 2359hrs IST of 31.July, 2020.”
“This restriction shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by DGCA. However, International Scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority only on case to case basis. Please acknowledge the receipt and ensure strict compliance,” it added.
On June 20, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that re-commencement of international flight services will depend on factors like 'border acceptance' norms in the arriving country and the traffic demand.
That time, he hinted at the prospects of bilateral bubble arrangements, which will allow some international operations between countries.
At present, healthy demand for evacuation flights have been witnessed in the North America-India sector.
Passenger air services were suspended on March 25 due to the nationwide lockdown to check the spread of Covid-19, although domestic air services has resumed in a phased manner.
Subsequently, domestic flight services resumed from May 25. At present, airlines are only allowed to deploy 33 per cent of their total capacity.
