COVID-19: Govt suspends domestic, international flights till May 17

DGCA circular stated that foreign and domestic airlines shall be suitably informed about the opening of their operations, whether international to/from India or domestic respectively, in due course.

New Delhi:In wake of the extended lockdown in India, all domestic and international flights have been suspended till May 17, the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Saturday.

"In view of the decision taken by the Government to continue the lockdown up to 17th May, 2020, as contained in MHA's order No. 40-3/2020-DM-A(A) dated 01.05.2020, the validity of the MOCA Order No. AV. 11011/1/2020 US(AG)Office-MOCA dated 23rd March, 2020, prohibiting domestic passenger flight operations, has been further extended upto 23:59 hrs IST on 17th May," said a Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) circular.

"It has also been decided to extend the validity of the CIRCULAR dated 14.04.2020 issued on the subject cited-above regarding Scheduled International commercial passenger services till 23:59 hrs IST of May 17th, 2020," said DGCA.

DGCA circular further stated that foreign and domestic airlines shall be suitably informed about the opening of their operations, whether international to/from India or domestic respectively, in due course.

However, this restriction shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by DGCA.

Domestic and international commercial passenger flight operations in India has been suspended since March 25. India currently has a total fleet of 650 planes and due to the nationwide-lockdown almost all of these planes are grounded.