India postpones scheduled flights until Feb 28 |
Scheduled international commercial flights to and from India will remain suspended till February 28, Director General of Civil Aviation said in a fresh order on January 19. Flights under air bubble arrangements and Vande Bharat flights would remain unaffected. All such flights would continue to operate as per the ongoing arrangements. Cargo flights would also be exempt from the extended ban, the DGCA said. The decision comes as the world is braving a fresh wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, driven by Omicron, the latest variant of the SARS-CoV-2. In November 2021, the Modi government had decided to resume scheduled international flight operations. The emergence of Omicron threw a spanner in the plan and the government withdrew the decision to resume scheduled international flights days before January 15. Scheduled international flights have been suspended in India from March 23, 2020, two days before a nationwide lockdown was imposed in the country. The suspension was extended every month allowing emergency international travel under the air bubble agreements. India has air transport bubbles with Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, the Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tanzania, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, US and Uzbekistan. The agreements allow both-way air travel under some terms and conditions.
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