Director General of Civil Aviation, the nodal body for aviation in India has announced the extension of ban on scheduled commercial passenger flights till February 28. All flights under Air Bubble agreements and Mission Vande Bharat will continue to operate.
The government issued a notification on Wednesday in continuation of a previously issued notice dated June 26, 2021 regarding Scheduled International commercial passenger services.
“The authority has decided to extend the suspension of Scheduled International commercial passenger services to/from India till 2359 hrs IST of 28th February 2022,” reads an official letter of Civil Aviation.
Meanwhile, cargo flights will also continue to operate as per the previous arrangements.
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“This restriction shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by DGCA,” the order says. It adds that “international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on case to case basis.”
Scheduled international flights have been suspended in India from March 23, 2020, two days before a nationwide lockdown was imposed in the country. The suspension was extended every month allowing emergency international travel under the air bubble agreements.
India has air transport bubbles with Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tanzania, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, US and Uzbekistan. The agreements allow both-way air travel under some terms and conditions.
(With inputs from agencies)