India Suspends Regular International Passenger Flights Till 31 January

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(Photo: The Quint/Aroop Mishra)

India has extended the ban on scheduled international passenger flights till 31 January 2022, the Director General of Civil Aviation announced on Thursday, 9 December.

Regular international flights will resume to and from all countries that are not considered 'at risk,' India had previously announced on 26 November.

A revision of the order was issued on Thursday, in the wake of the emergence of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, which has caused global concern.

"In partial modification of circular dated 26-11-2021, the competent authority has decided to extend the suspension of Scheduled International commercial passenger services to/from India till 2359 hrs IST of 31 January, 2022."

Office of the DCGA

"However, International Scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on case to case basis," the circular adds.

The restriction does not apply to all-cargo operations and flights that are specifically approved by the DCGA.

Scheduled international flights were suspended in India following the coronavirus outbreak in March 2020.

UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Finland, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Iran, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe have been listed as 'at-risk' by India.

All passengers coming from these nations have to compulsorily undergo RT-PCR test, while two percent of passengers arriving from other countries would be tested on a random basis, as per the Health Ministry's guidelines.

Singapore was dropped from the list of 'at-risk' countries on Thursday.