COVID-19: India extends suspension of International flights till May 31

The Director-General of Civil Aviation on Friday extended the suspension of international flights till May 31. Issuing an order, the DGCA said that international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on case to case basis. The earlier deadline for flight suspension was to end today.

Scheduled international passenger services have been suspended in India since March 23 last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But special international flights have been operating under the Vande Bharat Mission since May last year, and under bilateral 'air bubble' arrangements with selected countries since July.

The restriction, however, shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by the aviation regulator, it added. 

During the second surge, about 20 countries have in the last 10 days imposed restrictions like flight suspensions from India or stricter entry norms for travellers from here.

Many countries including the US, UK, Kuwait, France and Canada have banned flights from India, citing COVID-19 cases and the 'double mutant' virus being found in the country.

Iran, Kuwait, Indonesia and UAE are the latest additions to this list of countries that have banned India from their citizens' travel lists.

Australia this week suspended all direct passenger flights from India for the next three weeks due to the unprecedented spike in COVID-19 cases, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

India recorded 3,86,452 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday and 3,498 deaths, the health ministry data showed. A record 2,97,540 passengers were also discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, the health ministry data shows.