Restrictions on international passenger flights to stay till March 31

Fearing fresh surge in COVID positive cases, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday (February 26) extended restrictions on international passenger flights till March 31.

“The competent authority has further extended the validity of circular issued on the subject cited above regarding Scheduled International commercial passenger services to/from India till 2359 hours IST of 31st March, 2021,” the DGCA said in a statement.

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All-cargo international operations and flights specially approved by DGCA have been excluded from the advisory. The aviation watchdog, however, clarified that international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes on a case-to-case basis.

International flight operations were restricted last year in March after a global alert on transmission of the coronavirus. While the government restarted most economic activities over the last few months, restrictions remained on international flight operations.

The last round of restrictions came in December 2020 when the DGCA, on the Centre’s advice, banned flights to and from the United Kingdom, after the discovery of a highly contagious strain of the coronavirus in that country. The ban was later revoked.