India will try to restart a good percentage of international passenger flights before August, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Saturday, three days after announcing resumption of domestic flights from May 25.
All scheduled commercial passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 25 when the Modi government imposed a lockdown to contain the novel cornavirus pandemic.
"I am fully hopeful that before August or September, we will try to start a good percentage of international civil aviation operations, if not complete international operations," Puri said during a Facebook live session.
"I can't put a date on it (restarting international flights). But if somebody says can it be done by August or September, my response is why not earlier depending on what is the situation," he said.
Earlier, Hardeep Singh Puri announced that the domestic civil aviation operations will resume in a calibrated manner from May 25. The flights have been stopped since the first lockdown was enforced in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Puri added that all airports and air carriers are being informed to be ready for operations from May 25. He said that the Ministry will issue a Standard Operating Protocols (SOPs) for the movement of passengers.
