Vistara to start operations after lockdown period unless new directive says otherwise

As the nation is under a 21-day lockdown causing a commercial transportation ban ending on April 14, Vistara Airlines has announced that they would start taking flight bookings from April 15 unless a new directive from the Ministry of Civil Aviation is issued. 

The airline spokesperson said in a statement, "We continue to take bookings from April 15 onwards as of now. We will act otherwise if there is any new notification from the ministry."

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On the other hand, even though no decision has been taken to extend the duration of the nationwide lockdown, national carrier Air India has announced that all ticket bookings will be closed from Friday onwards till April 30.

However, this decision will be reviewed after April 14, the last day of the nationwide lockdown. Currently, all domestic and international flight operations in India have been suspended till April 14. Earlier, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had revealed that no call had been taken yet on revoking the suspension of air travel after the lockdown period.

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Addressing a press briefing on Thursday, Air India CMD Rajiv Bansal revealed that the national carrier had entered into a contract with 4 countries- Germany, Canada, France, and Ireland. According to this agreement, a total of 18 one-way flights will be operated on a commercial basis to these countries whereby foreign nationals can leave India. The flights will come back to the country with no passengers on board. This decision was taken after a few countries requested assistance in repatriating their citizens from India.

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