The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday extended the ban on scheduled international commercial flights to and from India extended till July 31st, 2021. The DGCA has made this announcement in a circular released on Wednesday.
The DGCA circular also said that the suspension does not affect the operation of international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by it and the international flights may be allowed on select routes on a case to case basis.
The DGCA modified its previous order issued on June 26, 2020 extending the partial ban on the commercial flights. The ban on scheduled overseas flights was to end on 30 June after a 15-month gap.
In view of Covid-19, many countries have banned flights from India under Air Bubble pact till situation improves and the scheduled international passenger services have been suspended in India since March 23, 2020. However, the special international flights have been operating under the Vande Bharat Mission since May and under bilateral air bubble arrangements with selected countries since July.
India has formed air bubble pacts with 27 countries, including the US, the UK, the UAE, Kenya, Bhutan and France. Under an air bubble pact between two countries, special international flights can be operated by their airlines between their territories.
However, international travel remains muted worldwide as new variants of Covid-19 continue to emerge.
Meanwhile, India recorded 45,951 new covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours ending 8 am on Wednesday while 817 deaths were reported on Tuesday, the lowest since April 9.
There are a total of 3,03,62,848 cases in the country while at least 2,94,27,330 people have recovered from the disease. Active cases have dropped to 5,37,064 and the recovery rate has touched 96.92 per cent, the ministry said.
The overall death toll has reached 3,98,454. And 33,28,54,527 people have been administered at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine so far.