On June 30, India‘s aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has extended the suspension of scheduled international commercial passenger services till 31st July.
The notification signed by the joint director general of the DCGA Sunil Kumar said that it had modified its previous order which was issued on 26th June, 2020 regarding the extension of the partial ban on the commercial flights.
The ban of scheduled international passenger flights was first imposed in the month of March, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the extension, it was intended to end on 30th June. The restrictions will not apply to international all-cargo operations as well as flights specifically approved by DGCA.
According to the aviation regulator, international scheduled flights might be permitted on selected routes by the competent authority on case to case basis.
— DGCA (@DGCAIndia) June 30, 2021
However, since May 2020, under the Vande Bharat Mission along with bilateral ‘air bubble‘ arrangements with certain selected countries since July 2020, special international flights are allowed to operate.
The country has formed air bubble pacts with about 24 nations such as Bhutan, France, Kenya, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the UK and the US. Under such air bubble agreements between two countries, special international flights are permitted to operate by the airlines between their territories.
