India May Not Resume International Flights From December 15

India May Not Resume International Flights From December 15

India may not resume international flights from December 15 as decided earlier. The authorities may postpone in the view of the emergence of the new Covid variant, Omicron.

A note from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation today read – “In view of the merging global scenario… the situation is being watched closely in consultation with all stakeholders and an appropriate decision indicating the effective date of resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services shall be notified in due course”.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the scheduled international flights have been stopped in India since March 23 of last year. Special international passenger flights have been running since July of last year under air bubble agreements.

Commercial international passenger flights would restart on December 15, according to the Centre’s announcement on November 26. The new announcement has come after consulting with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of External Affairs, and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

However, on November 28, the Centre announced that it would make a decision on when flights would restart after reviewing the “changing global scenario” in the wake of concerns about the Omicron coronavirus type.