Aviation Min Hints At Resuming International Flights Before August

“We will try to start (a) good percentage of international passenger flights before August,” Hardeep Puri said

A file image of people queuing up to board a flight at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai.

(Photo: iStockphoto)

Union Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Saturday, 23 May, that the government will try to allow international flights after a couple of months, days after he announced that domestic flight operations will recommence in a calibrated manner from 25 May.

"I am fully hopeful that before August or September, we will try to start a good percentage of international civil aviation operations, if not complete international operations,” he said in a Facebook live session on 23 May.

“I can't put a date on it (restarting international flights). But if somebody says can it be done by August or September, my response is why not earlier, depending on what is the situation,” he said.

While calling the Aarogya Setu application an "excellent contact-tracing device", Puri said he doesn't understand the need for quarantining a passenger who has a green status on the application.

On the Vande Bharat Mission, he claimed that the government will have been able to bring back around 50,000 citizens through the special flights in the first 25 days of the mission, PTI further reported.

On 20 May, the Civil Aviation Minister tweeted saying that domestic civil aviation operations will recommence in a calibrated manner from 25 May.

The resumption of domestic operations comes almost two months after planes were grounded due to the nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus. Under the fourth phase of the lockdown, which will continue till 31 May, significant relaxations have been granted to various sectors to ease the blow on the economy.