India suspends all international commercial flight services till July 15

The Indian Civil Aviation Regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Friday announced that it has decided to suspend all scheduled International commercial passenger flights to and from India till July 15 due to Covid-19 pandemic.

“In continuation of the circular dated 30.05.2020 on the subject cited above (Travel and Visa related to COVID-19), the competent authority has decided that Scheduled International commercial passenger services to/from India shall remain suspended till 2359 hours IST of 15th July 2020,” DGCA said in the statement.

https://twitter.com/DGCAIndia/status/1276471428016009216

However, as per the statement, the India is likely to allow some international flights on selected routes. “The international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on case to case basis,” the civil aviation ministry said in the circular. The ban will not affect international all-cargo operations and flights, the statement added.

Earlier U.S had restricted the services made by Air India under Vande Bharat mission citing “unfair and discriminatory practices”. According to U.S officials, the government of India has been engaging in “unfair and discriminatory practices” on charter air transportation services to and from India.

The U.S officials has also instructed the Indian National career Air India to obtain a prior approval for conducting charter flights services.