DGCA extends suspension on scheduled international passenger flights till May 31

Keeping in view the rising COVID-19 cases, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)  extended the suspension on scheduled international passenger flights till May 31. However, the suspension order does not affect the operation of international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by the DGCA, and flights on selected routes that may be allowed by the concerned authority from cases to cases basis in the future. 

The suspension was imposed on international flights on March 23 and flights have been inoperational ever since, with the exception of a few flights operating under the Vande Bharat Mission since May and under bilateral 'air bubble' arrangements with selected countries since July. India has an 'air bubble' arrangement with 27 countries, include the US, the UK, the UAE, Kenya, Bhutan and France among others, as per which special flights can be operated by the airlines between the countries. 

Since April 15, India has been witnessing a steep rise in the number of COVID-19 cases. On April 4, the country recorded over 1 lakh cases, which doubled in a span of ten days and has been seeing a rise ever since, with now, over 3-lakh cases being reported every day. 

In these few days, the contribution of the country to the world figure has risen from 9 percent to 35 percent, which is the highest ever figure by any country. Keeping this in mind, many countries have either closed their borders or cancelled flights from India. The countries include Bangladesh, Germany, Iran, United Kingdom, Canada, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.

COVID-tally in India

Setting a new record, India in the last 24 hours, registered as many as 386,452 fresh COVID-19 cases. With this, the cumulative count of the country jumped to 1,87,62,976, of which 31,70,228 are still active, and that comprises over 16.90 percent of the total infections. The death toll, on the other hand,  has increased to 2,08,330 with 3,498  daily new fatalities, and with that, the case fatality rate stands 1.11 percent. 

(Credit-PTI)