COVID-19 Scare: Centre Extends Restrictions On International Passenger Flights Till March 31

The aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has once again extended restrictions on international passenger flights till March 31.

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The government of India has once again extended restrictions on international passenger flights till March 31. The aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in a statement on Friday said that the authority has extended ban on Scheduled International commercial passenger services to/from India till 31st March. 

"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 hours IST of 31st March, 2021," The aviation agency said.

As per the orders, the International scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on case to case basis. "However, International Scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case-to-case basis," DGCA noted.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/gCmviBPKcW" rel='nofollow'>pic.twitter.com/gCmviBPKcW</a></p>&mdash; DGCA (@DGCAIndia) <a href="https://twitter.com/DGCAIndia/status/1365275455834648584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>February 26, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Moreover, the restrictions are not applicable to the international all-cargo operations and flights specially approved by the aviation watchdog.

The restrictions on international flights in India were imposed in March 2020 in order to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country. Over the month, the government of India gradually lifted up certain restriction allowing various economic activities to get started again but not the international flight operations.