- Saturday, April 20, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA’S Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), a statutory body which regulates the country’s civil aviation, on Wednesday (1) delayed the resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger airline services to or from India, saying it will formally announce its decision on the same in some time.
In a meeting in late November, the Narendra Modi government had announced that commercial international flights shall restart operations from December 15, after a gap of more than 20 months. But the move came under the scanner when the government reviewed the strategy following reports of the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
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The government revised the guidelines for international arrivals with effect from Wednesday. The country’s health ministry imposed the new rules in view of the new strain. Earlier, top government officials met over the new variant and it was decided that the call to resume regular international flight services from December 15 will be revisited.
The DGCA’s notice issued on Wednesday confirmed that the Modi government has decided to step back on the question of resuming the commercial international flights and the concerned authorities are monitoring the global Covid-19 situation, especially in the wake of the emergence of the Omicron variant which is said to be highly contagious.
“In view of the evolving global scenario with the emergence of new variants of concern, the situation is being watched closely in consultation with all stakeholders, and an appropriate decision indicating the effective date of resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services shall be notified in due course,” a circular issued by the office of the DGCA on Wednesday said.
A call on the resumption of commercial international flights will likely be taken when the government feels it is relatively safer, the Hindustan Times reported.
