Ban on international passenger flights extended till Sep 30

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has extended the ban on scheduled international commercial passenger flights to and from India till September 30.

The ban was previously extended till the end of August.

In a circular on Sunday, the civil aviation regulator said: "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 hrs IST of September 30, 2021."

It added that this restriction shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights approved by the DGCA.

However, international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the regulator on a case-to-case basis.

Scheduled international passenger flights were suspended in India in March last year due to the COVID pandemic.

While domestic flights resumed in May 2020 and were gradually increased, international travel remained suspended with consecutive extension of the ban.