International Flights: DCGI Extends Suspension Of Operations To & From India Till September 30

Scheduled international passenger flights were suspended in India in March last year because of the Coronavirus pandemic.

New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Sunday announced an extension of the ban on scheduled international commercial passenger flights to and from India till September 30.

The ban was previously extended till the end of August.

In a circular on Sunday, the civil aviation regulator said: "The competent authority has further extended the validity of circular issued on the subject cited above regarding Scheduled International commercial passenger services to/from India till 2359 hrs IST of September 30, 2021."

This restriction shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights approved by the DGCA. However, international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the regulator on a case-to-case basis, the order stated.

Scheduled international passenger flights were suspended in India in March last year because of the Coronavirus pandemic.

While domestic flights resumed in May 2020 and were gradually increased, international travel has remained suspended with the continuous extension of the ban.

The extension comes as India reported 45,083 new COVID cases in the past 24 hours, slightly lower than yesterday's 46,759, taking the total infections to over 3.26 crore.

The country has reported 460 deaths and 35,840 recoveries in the last 24 hours; active caseload 3,68,558. The nation's recovery rate currently stands at 97.53 per cent.

Meanwhile, Over 73.8 lakh vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hours. The total doses administered in the country have exceeded 63.09 crores so far, the health ministry said.