COVID-19 Outbreak: India Ban International Flights till July 31.
Due to a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases and the country enters the “Unlock 2” phase, the civil aviation regulator DGCA declared that the ban on all international flights has been extended to July 31, and only flights and cargo approved by DGCA are allowed.
On June 26, DGCA announced the ban on international passenger flights will be extended till July 15, which has now been extended till the end of the month.
The Civil Aviation Administration also stated: “However, the competent authority may allow international scheduled flights on certain routes as appropriate.”
— DGCA (@DGCAIndia) July 3, 2020
The Ministry of Civil Aviation announced in a tweet: Private airlines will have vital participation in the fourth stage of VBM. “With other airlines, IndiGo will operate 219 flights from Kuwait and 238 flights from Qatar, and GoAir will operate 41 flights from Kuwait.The number of Pvt flights, destinations, and carriers likely to increase.”
Air India will send 114 flights to 17 countries across the world in the fourth phase of the mission. These countries are Sri Lanka, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, the UK, Kenya, Thailand, South Africa, the US, Kyrgyzstan, Canada, Myanmar, Japan, Ukraine, Australia, Russia, and Vietnam.
VFS Global, which is a visa outsourcing and technical service provider for global governments and diplomatic missions will resume visa application services in India.
Passengers will be able to apply for specific visa categories for Belarus, Italy, Norway, Portugal, South Korea, Turkey, UAE, and the United Kingdom, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ireland.
The Minister of Aviation Hardeep Puri stated on June 20 that the government will begin to consider resuming international passenger flights in mid-July, at which time the government expects domestic air traffic to reach pre-Corona virus levels 50-55%.
On 23 June, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MOCA) said that India is considering establishing “individual bilateral bubbles” with Germany, France, the United States, and the United Kingdom which will allow airlines in each country in the agreement to operate international flights.
On 3 July, Arvind Singh stated “I believe that conversations with the United States, Canada, and the Gulf countries will achieve positive results, and the negotiations are still in progress.” The decision was made when the capacity of domestic routes increased from 33% to 45%.
The minister also stated that the restarting of international flights will also depend on demand and other countries being open to receiving flights in the wake of the corona cases.
The minister said that in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, China, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates, the movement of international flights is now 3% to 18% of its previous flight capacity.
The minister also proclaimed that there are conditions for entering the United States, Britain, France, China, UAE, and Singapore countries. Thus, in this case, you will not be able to conduct normal civil aviation operations.”
Due to the pandemic virus, scheduled international passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 23. After being suspended for nearly two months to combat the coronavirus pandemic, the government resumed regular domestic passenger flights on May 25. However, it allows airlines to operate up to 33% of their pre-COVID flights. MOCA raised the limit from 33% to 45% on June 26.
According to the Vande Bharat Mission launched by the central government on May 6, Air India and other domestic private airlines have been conducting unscheduled international repatriation flights.
On Thursday, the Vande Bharat Mission has entered its fourth phase. Srivastava said: “In the fourth phase of the Vande Bharat mission, we will operate over 500 flights. It includes Air India and private airlines, both of which are significantly expanding their operations.”
Although schools, movie theaters, gyms, and bars will remain closed, many curbs on several movements have been relaxed. The center has stated that the operation of domestic flights and passenger trains will be further extended.
