The government said the issuance of tourist visas has also been extended (Representative)
New Delhi:
India will resume scheduled international flights from December 15, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Friday evening, in a report by PTI news agency.
“The issue of resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services, to and from India, has been examined in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health, and it has been decision … can be resumed from December 15”, PTI quoted the order of the Ministry of Aviation.
Scheduled international flights – with the exception of repatriation services and flights carrying essential goods – were suspended last March, when the country fell under the Covid embargo.
Restrictions are gradually eased – as amounts go down and vaccination coverage increases, with ‘air bubble’ agreements with other countries. India currently has 28 such deals.
Under such agreement, international passenger flights may be operated by the respective carriers of the member countries to each other’s territories, subject to certain conditions.
The decision to reopen scheduled international passenger traffic comes amid growing concerns about a new variant of the coronavirus – Strain B.1.1.529 was first discovered in South Africa.
This variant has spread to neighboring Botswana, Israel and Hong Kong.
The new variant has been red flagged for having an alarmingly high number of mutations (50), including more than 30 on the mutant protein, which the virus uses to unlock access to cells. of our body.
Researchers are still trying to confirm whether this makes it more contagious or deadly than previous variants.
Germany and Italy have joined Britain in banning most travel from South Africa as governments worldwide scramble to stop the spread of the new variant. In a sign of growing alarm, the European Union has proposed separately banning travel from southern Africa.
It remains unclear if any countries will report this new strain on the Indian government’s ‘no fly’ list.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for calm in the response to this new variant, highlighting the fact that studies need to be done to understand the new mutations.
Last week, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said the government was assessing the process of normalizing international flight operations.
He said that while the government wants things to return to normal, they will take measures to watch out for the new wave of coronavirus infections, especially since several major countries in Europe have recorded a significant increase. fear of the number of new cases daily.
“I’m all about reclaiming our space in the world’s civil aviation sector and creating a hub in India and for wider-body planes. We’ll get there but bear with it. and trust me… I’m on your side. We will work together but in a safe environment,” he said at a public event.
Domestic flights – which were similarly restricted during the lockdown – were allowed to operate at full capacity last month, after initially only being allowed a certain number of flights per leg. .
The government resumed domestic flights last May after a two-month break..
With input from PTI
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