Scheduled international passenger flights have been banned in India from March 23, 2020. Special flights are operating between India and approximately 40 countries since July 2020 under air-bubble arrangements.

According to the officials told to the media an inter-ministerial committee of officials from the ministries of home affairs, health and family welfare, civil aviation and the director-general of civil aviation (DGCA) will meet soon to take a decision on lifting the ban on regular international flights. But the ban will still be continue till the end of this month.

As per as officials said, the decision will be taken according to the COVID-19 situation in India and determine whether scheduled international commercial flights can be restarted from March 1 or not. On one hand, the officials from the DGCA and the civil aviation ministry have proposed to lift the ban, but the final decision is likely to come from the ministry of health and family welfare, which is closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation.

On this purpose a government official said, “The decision is yet to be taken by health ministry officials as some states with a high inflow of international traffic are still showing a rise in COVID-19 cases”.

International Flights

On this purpose a government official said, “The decision is yet to be taken by health ministry officials as some states with a high inflow of international traffic are still showing a rise in COVID-19 cases”.

Further the officials also said, after the inter-ministerial meeting to discuss measures to ensure smooth transition of restarting international flights and to discuss increasing frequency of flights under air bubble agreements Civil aviation ministry and DGCA officials will also meet senior officials from the domestic and international airlines. Also one official said that, “If the health ministry does not give a go-ahead, the ministry will discuss with airlines the need to increase the frequency of flights under air-bubble agreements as well”.

The civil aviation ministry is ready to restart international operations soon as domestic airline capacity in India has recovered well after the third wave of COVID-19. They are currently operating at around 85 percent of pre-pandemic levels, said officials.

As per the information, the ban on international flights in India was started in March 23, 2020.

DGCA

As per the information, the ban on international flights in India was started in March 23, 2020.

However, special passenger flights have been operating between India and approximately 40 countries since July 2020 under air-bubble arrangements. India currently has air transport bubbles with 40 countries, including Canada, France, Germany, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the US.

The aviation ministry had earlier announced plans to resume regular international flights from December 15, 2021, but the order was cancelled following the rise in Omicron cases. Later on, the DGCA, had extended the suspension on international flights from January to India till February 28, in view of the rising Coronavirus cases across the world.

Air bubble

Later on, the DGCA, had extended the suspension on international flights from January to India till February 28, in view of the rising Coronavirus cases across the world.