In a recent development, DGCA suspended all scheduled international flights till 2021 January 31. But there is a twist in the case of the revival of international air services. The Director-General of Civil Aviation has issued these new guidelines in the wake of the new omicron variant threat.
After the omicron threat surfaced more prominently the Government of India has cancelled all the international flights as a strong and prompt response. The government of India had cancelled all international flights on March 29, 2020, as a part of the crackdown on the spread of the covid-19 virus.
Since then, special international flights have been operated under the scheme of Vande Bharat Mission since May 2020 to bring back Indians stranded in various foreign countries.
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Since May international passenger traffic from 32 countries has been allowed under the Air Bubble Agreement with a limited number of flights that are operating while complying with the terms of the said agreement.
After which the civil aviation department announced on November 26, 2020, that it was restoring and resuming all the international flights as vaccinations were gaining momentum around the world and the number of active caseloads declined after the world was relieved from the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Within a few days of the announcement of the Omicron variant burst outside of South Africa. Immediately DGCA imposed restrictions on flight services and restrictions on passengers. Which led to DGCA on December 1, announcing the postponing of the decision of resuming flight services.
As the number of omicron variant cases have been reported across many countries, including India. The Director-General of Civil Aviation issued an official statement on December 9, 2021, in view of the growing number of omicron variant active caseloads.
Thereby it was finally decided to postpone the decision that would have allowed international flight operations until January 31, 2022.
There is a chance for a limited number of airlines that are currently operating from the 32 countries that have exclusively the green signal air bubble agreement. The list of exclusive 32 countries includes the UK, US, Kenya, UAE, Bhutan, France, and others. The same exclusive list has been followed for the cargo flight services.
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