India Unlikely To Resume International Flights From Dec 15

Amid the Covid-19 new variant Omicron scare, India may not resume the scheduled commercial flights from December 15. Earlier, the Ministry of Civil Aviation announced on Friday that international scheduled commercial flights will resume from December 15, after a 21-month ban.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said: “In view of the evolving global scenario with the emergence of new variants of concern, the situation is being watched closely in consultation with all stakeholders and an appropriate decision indicating the effective date of resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services shall be notified in due course”.

As per the evolving global scenario due to the Omicron variant, the government’s decision about international flights may be revoked for now and the date of resumption of commercial flights will be announced later.

The re-opening for the countries that are on ‘at-risk list including the UK, all the countries in Europe, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Israel, will be canceled. If India has an air-bubble arrangement, the flights will be resumed at a 75 percent capacity and for those without an air bubble with 50 percent capacity.

The 100 percent of flights were allowed to resume for the remaining countries that are not a part of the ‘at-risk category.