Ban On International Passenger Flights Extended Till June 30

The ban on international commercial flights which has been implemented back in March 2020, is now extended for one more month. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday announced that it is extending the ban on international commercial passenger flights by one month till June 30, 2021. “In a partial modification of circular dated 26-06-2020, the competent authority has further extended the validity of circular issued on the subject cited above regarding Scheduled International commercial passenger services to/from India till 2359 IST of 30th June 2021,” DGCA said.

In view of increased covid19 cases, all scheduled international flights were restricted on March 23 last year. However, several international flights had been operationalised under the Vande Bharat Mission since May and the bilateral air bubble agreements that India signed with 27 countries for the undisturbed movement of passengers. An air bubble is a bilateral arrangement with a set of regulations and restrictions in which the carriers of the two countries can operate international flights. After nearly two months of suspension to combat the coronavirus outbreak, the government resumed scheduled domestic passenger flights on May 25.

Meanwhile, India recorded 186,364 fresh Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours and this is the lowest daily count in 44 days, Though the cases are reducing at a slower pace, the daily death toll remained over the 3,000-mark, with 3,660 deaths. The test positivity ratio stands at 9 per cent. The highest number of cases have been reported in Tamil Nadu with 33K plus and followed by Karnataka with 24K new infections. On the other hand, Delhi reported 153 cases of mucormycosis (black fungus) today.