At the outstruck of coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, the Indian government had banned all domestic and international flights in the country. Though the domestic flights got operational since the end of May, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had canceled its previous plan to open international flight by 15th July.
The circular released by DGCA quotes “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.
This restriction shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by DGCA. However, international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on case to case basis.”
To bring back stranded Indians in different parts of the world, Air India and other private domestic airlines have been operating unscheduled international repatriation flights under the Vande Bharat Mission, which started on May 6.
There has been a huge demand to start international flights. But, keeping in mind the rising number of Covid-19 cases in the country and restrictions in other countries, the government has not ordered the resumption of international flights until further notice on approval of selected flight routes.
In a recent tweet, the civil aviation Ministry said, “Private Airlines will have significant participation in Phase-4 of VBM. Among others, IndiGo will operate 238 flights from Qatar & 219 flights from Kuwait; while GoAir will operate 41 flights from Kuwait. A number of private carriers, flights & destinations likely to increase.”
India is also in talks with the USA and European countries to cater to the surging demand for immediate flight operations.
