Ban on international flights to be lifted soon, confirms Civil Aviation Ministry

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Speaking exclusively to Zee Business, Rajiv Bansal, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation said that international flight operations are expected to return to normal soon. The Central government had banned the operation of international flights on March 23 last year to contain and control the spread of Covid-19. Flight restrictions, however, were later eased under air bubble arrangement with certain countries. At present, India has formed air bubble pacts with about 28 countries.

Earlier, India's civil aviation regulator extended the ban on the scheduled international commercial flights, till November 30. In the notification, the Directorate General of Central Aviation (DGCA), however, said: "This restriction shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by the DGCA."

It also said that scheduled international flights might be allowed on selected routes on a case to case basis. The country had been operating Vande Bharat flights to many countries over the last one year to evacuate stranded Indians. An air bubble pact is a bridge between two countries to ease travel and allows free-flow of travellers with all the required documents.

Currently, India's vaccine certificate is applicable in almost all the countries and only RT-PCR test is needed to enter the destination nation. Domestic air travel, on the other hand, has reached its full capacity following govt's order to restart the flights as per pre-covid levels.