
The Indian government is likely to extend the temporary suspension of flights to and from the UK beyond 31 December. Last week on 23 December, Government announced a suspension for flights from the UK to prevent the spread of the new strain of the coronavirus.
On Tuesday, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri during a press conference said that “I foresee—I am not making an announcement—a slight extension of the temporary suspension. I don’t expect that extension to be long or indefinite.”
He also added, “Once we have the genome sequence completed, it will give us the full picture and confidence to open up flight services again.”
The statement is made after six Indians were found to be infected by the new strain of virus and all of them had returned to the UK.
The government is currently carrying out contact tracing of passengers who arrived from the UK during the past few weeks to prevent the spread of the new strain of the virus in India.
The suspension of flights has led to cancellations 37 one-way direct flights per week to the UK from India operated by four carriers – Air India, Vistara, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.