(Image source from: dnaindia.com)

Indian Government on Friday announced that all International flights flying to and from India remain suspended till July 15 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The civil aviation watch dog DGCA declared the news considering the grave situation in the country that people are dealing with during this coronavirus pandemic.

However, the restriction only applies to international passenger flights only.  International cargo operational will continue its operations authorized by the DGCA.

When the country plunged into lockdown in March 2020, all flight services were suspended till further notice to curb the infection spreading. Meanwhile, after the lockdown has been lifted, domestic flights have resumed their services from May 25.

“International scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case to case basis”, read the circular from Director General for Civil Aviation.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri earlier said that government would take a favorable decision if the coronavirus behaves in a “predictable manner”.

When asked on the exact date of resumption of International flights, he said that it would be decided by the government in coming months and also when the domestic air traffic would reach 55% of its pre-COVID-19 status.

He also asserted that when all the states would be ready to absorb heavy influx of passengers then the decision on resumption would be taken.

While International passenger flights will remain suspended, some unscheduled repatriation flights of Air India have been operational under the Vande Bharat mission.   

According to ministry of Civil Aviation, domestic airlines have commuted about 1.8 million passengers from May 25 to June 24. The domestic flights are only allowed to ferry 33% of the maximum seating capacity per flight.

The Supreme Today on Friday ruled out the necessity of leaving the middle seats of domestic flights vacant. However, it advised that airlines must comply with the guidelines provided by aviation ministry to contain the spread of COVID-19 among the passengers.

Meanwhile, India has created its own record by registering 18,500 new infections in the span of 24 hours. The country, as on today, has more than 500,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

By Gayatri Yellayi