In an official circular issued on Wednesday (October 28), the central government said "the competent authority has further extended the validity of circular issued on the subject regarding Scheduled International commercial passenger services to/from India till 2359 hrs IST of 30th November, 2020. The restrictions shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by DGCA."
The notice further mentioned that the International Scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on case to case basis.
Last week, DGCA had approved 12,983 weekly domestic flights of airlines from October 25 till March 27 next year.
Speaking of the 'Air Bubble', Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri in August had announced that India is negotiation with at least 13 countries in order to establish 'Air Bubble' arrangements under a certain set of safety and passenger travelling conditions.
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These include Australia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Bahrain, Israel, Kenya, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand. At present, India already has made such travel bubbles with USA, UK, France, Germany, UAE, Qatar and Maldives. The latest air bubble was the one with Canada which became operational on August 15.
Travel bubble is a bilateral agreement between two countries to expedite the travel process of travelers of both the countries amidst the travel restrictions due to COVID-19. Such corridors are being created where both countries have successfully curbed the growth of the virus.