International flights from India will not be resuming on December 15 due to concerns of new COVID-19 variant

• Last week, the government of India had taken the call to resume all the international flights.
• The DGCA published a circular on December 1 announcing the dismissal of its initial plan.
• The government is in discussion with stakeholders and will soon finalise an effective date of resumption of scheduled flights.

The government of India has put its plan to resume international flights from December 15 on hold, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has confirmed.

The DGCA, in a circular published on December 1, noted that the plans have been halted due to the global concerns over the new COVID-19 variant ‘Omicron’ that was discovered in Africa last week.

The department also highlighted that they are in discussions with stakeholders and will soon finalise an effective date of resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services.

The circular was sent to all foreign and domestic scheduled airlines operating to/from India, the chairperson of the Airport Authority of India (AAI), all airport operators in India and the commissioner of the bureau of immigration.

“In view of the evolving global scenario with the emergence of the new variant of concern, the situation is being watched closely in consultation with all stakeholders and an appropriate decision indicating the effective date of resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services shall be notified in due course," the circular read.

https://twitter.com/DGCAIndia/status/1465969745287528458

The government of India had taken the call to resume all the international flights, last week. This decision was taken 20 months after certain flights were first discontinued during the global pandemic.

Only special international passenger flights were allowed to operate from July 2020 under an “air bubble agreement'' formed by 31 countries — including the United Kingdom, Canada, Maldives, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and more.

"The matter of resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services to and from India has been examined in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and it has been decided that scheduled commercial international passenger services to and from India may be resumed from December 15, 2021," the previous order by the ministry of civil aviation read.

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