India extends suspension of international passenger flights till February 28 amid rising COVID-19 cases

• The Government of India has extended the ban on international passenger flights till February 28.
• Flights under air bubble arrangements will continue to operate.
• International passenger flights have been suspended in the country since March 23, 2020.

Keeping in mind the rising global COVID-19 cases across the world as well as in India, the Government of India has decided to extend the suspension of international passenger flights till February 28.

However, flights under air bubble arrangements will not be affected by the new regulations.

Neeraj Kumar, General Director of Civil Aviation, said in the circular, “These restrictions shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by DGCA.”

Last year, on December 9, the DGCA had extended the ban on international flights till January 31 as the Omicron cases were surging in some parts of the world.

Scheduled international passenger flights services have been suspended in India since March 23, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But some special international flights like Vande Matram Mission were operating under ‘air bubble’ arrangements with selected countries till July 2020.

‘Air bubble’ arrangement is a special agreement between two countries to operate international flights between both territories.

India had formed air bubble pacts with 32 countries including the United States, United Kingdom, UAE, Bhutan, France and so on.

India also recorded 2,82,970 fresh COVID-19 cases and 441 deaths in the span of 24 hours with a 15.13% daily positivity rate.

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