India Extends Ban On International Flights Till Sept 30

The Director-General of Civil Aviation on Sunday extended the ban of international commercial passenger flights till September 30, 2021, citing the increase of the Covid-19 cases. The circular released stated that a few international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes and the competent authority will be taking a decision on this.

DGCA further clarified that the restriction is not applied to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved. “In a partial modification on a circular dated June 26, 2021, the competent authority has further extended the validity of the circular issued on the subject cited above regarding Scheduled International commercial passenger service to/from India till 2359 hrs IST of 30th September 2021,” stated the DGCA circular.

Earlier, the authority had suspended the scheduled international flights until August 31. Meanwhile, India will continue operating special international flights under its Vande Bharat Mission, which was started in May 2020. India has also agreed to bilateral ‘air bubble’ arrangements with several countries since July 2020.