International travel restrictions in India extended till July 15
26 June, 2020 | Priyanka Sharma
Only those International scheduled flights will be allowed that have been approved by a competent authority, says DGCA's latest circular.
In the wake of rising cases of Covid-19 in India, International commercial passenger flights shall remain suspended till July 15. The Ministry of Civil Aviation, in its latest order on Friday, stated that all scheduled international commercial passengers flights to/from India will remain suspended till July 15. However, the restrictions will not be applicable to international all-cargo operations and flights approved by DGCA.
Only those International scheduled flights will be allowed that have been approved by a competent authority, in reference to Vande Bharat Mission flights. Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri had earlier tweeted that Vande Bharat continues to be a mission of hope and happiness for Indians around the world. So far, about 140K Indians have returned and 48K have flown out.
On the resumption of International flights, the minister had said that the decision to resume international flights would be taken in July. Before putting any timeline out there, he wants to take all stakeholders and passengers into confidence. He added that they are trying to ensure that the government of all states are first ready for international flights. He has received many requests, suggestions and demands from the flyers to resume international flights but this may only be possible once the entire ecosystem is ready.
The scheduled International commercial passenger services to/from India shall remain suspended till 15th July: Government of India #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/zhvrlDBTdz
— ANI (@ANI) June 26, 2020
Nearly 140K Indians have returned to India on Vande Bharat flights since 6 May 2020 & more than 48K have flown out of the country so far.
VBM flights steadily continue to bring back stranded Indians everyday.
Today 3866 people have returned from different parts of the world. pic.twitter.com/15LDIqxp34
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) June 25, 2020
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India recorded the highest single-day spike of 17,000+ Covid-19 cases on Friday. The total number of cases in the country has now reached 4,90,401, including 1,89,463 active cases, 2,85,637cured/discharged/migrated cases and 15,301 deaths.