India extends international flights ban till July 31

New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday announced extension of the ban on international passenger flights in the country till July 31.

The aviation regulator however added that select international scheduled flights on selected routes may be permitted on a case to case basis.

“The restrictions shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specially approved by DGCA,” it said in a circular.

On June 20, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said that the international flight operations will start only after other countries open their air space or borders.

Puri had said, "Any suggestion that international traffic has opened up and we are the only one not to open up, needs reality check. The exact time when we will resume international flight depends on the other countries to be open to receive flights. In absence of a decision on resumption of international civil aviation we are left with no option but to continue what I call evacuation and repatriation flights under managed and controlled conditions."

Scheduled international passenger flights were suspended in India on March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Air India and other private domestic airlines have been operating unscheduled international repatriation flights under the Vande Bharat Mission, which was started on May 6 by the Central government. India resumed scheduled domestic passenger flights on May 25, after a gap of two months.