Govt mulling to resume international flights from March 15, check new guidelines

With consistent decline in Covid cases, a decision on resuming scheduled international flights has almost been arrived at by the Civil Aviation Ministry following consultation with the Health Ministry, sources said.

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Government officials on February 21 said that regular international flights are likely to resume from March 15. It will follow the standard operating procedures effective at Indian airports for foreign arrivals and departures. 

Given the consistent decline in Covid cases, a decision on resuming scheduled international flights has almost been arrived at by the Civil Aviation Ministry following consultation with the Health Ministry, sources said.

However, no official announcement has been made by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation so far. "Regular International flights are likely to resume from March 15. The Guidelines for International Arrivals, which came into effect from February 14, will be followed at airports for the passengers of these flights," an official source said.

The ban on scheduled international passenger flights in India is in effect till February 28. Such flights have been suspended in India since March 23, 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Special passenger flights have been functioning between India and around 40 countries since July 2020 under air bubble arrangements.

The Health Ministry has issued revised guidelines for international arrivals, with effect from February 14, doing away with the mandatory seven-day home quarantine and the need for them to undertake an RT-PCR test on the eighth day.

Apart from uploading a negative RT-PCR report, taken 72 hours before the journey, there is an option to upload certificates of the completion of the full primary Covid vaccination schedule provided from countries on a reciprocal basis. Also, the demarcation of countries 'at-risk' and other countries has been removed.

Accordingly, the need for giving samples on the port of arrival and waiting till the result is obtained from countries ‘at-risk' has been dispensed with. 

With inputs from PTI