The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday rolled out a circular stating that the International commercial air passenger services will remain suspended till 31st July.
Last month, DGCA had suspended all international flight operations in the country till 15th July before extending the deadline to 31st July.
India suspended all flight operations on 25th March to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Domestic flight operations were allowed to resume from 25th May, albeit with a limited capacity, after a gap of two months.
“In partial modification of circular dated 26-6-2020, the competent authority has extended the validity of circular issued on the subject cited above regarding scheduled international commercial passenger services to/from India till 2359 hrs IST of 31st July, 2020. These restrictions shall not apply to international all-cargo operations, and flights specifically approved by (the) DGCA. However, international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on (a) case to case basis.”
~Excerpt from the circular released by the DGCA
The government has said that it will resume international commercial flight operations in a phased manner without giving any timeline.
Earlier last month, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said that it is working to open flight services in ‘bilateral bubbles’ with specific countries.
The aviation ministry said that it is looking at the prospect of establishing individual bilateral bubbles — India-US, India-France, India-Germany, India-UK — where demand for travel has not diminished and final decisions are expected soon.
At present only selected international flights, including repatriation flights, all-cargo flights, and ones specifically approved by the aviation regulator are allowed to operate to and from the country.
