Air India Pauses Bookings Till Apr 30; Awaits Clarity On Lockdown Deadline

The national carrier is awaiting clarity from the Centre, on whether or not the lockdown deadline of April 14 will be extended.

Air India

New Delhi, April 4: Air India has put a brake in bookings for flights till April 30 because of the lack of clarity of the extension of deadline. The national carrier is awaiting clarity from the Centre, on whether or not the lockdown deadline of April 14 will be extended, according to the sources. The carrier is awaiting written instructions and at present, it is not operating domestic or foreign flights till April 14.  However, Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola said the domestic airlines are free to accept ticket bookings for flights that will be operated post the current lockdown deadline. Since the current lockdown period is till the midnight of April 14, and if it doesn’t get extended then these bookings will be honoured. Meanwhile, Air India had tentatively suspended the contracts of around 200 pilots. These pilots were re-employed after their retirement, as all domestic and international commercial passenger flights have been suspended in the country till April 14 to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior official said.