International flights ban extended till October 31, no restriction on flights specifically approved by DGCA

The ban on international flights to and from India has been extended till October 31, with a rise in number of COVID-19 cases across India. The ban will not apply to international all-cargo and international scheduled flights approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said on Wednesday. The announcement was made hours after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) released Unlock 5 guidelines and a few hours before the expiration of its earlier circular dated August 26, 2020,  in which international travel ban was extended till September 30. 

“In partial modification of circular dated 26-06-2020, the competent authority has further extended the validity of circular issued on the subject cited above regarding Scheduled International commercial passenger services to/from India till 2359 hrs 1ST of 3151 October, 2020. This restriction shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by DGCA,” the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said in a statement released Wednesday evening. 

The statement added that flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on case to case basis. To recall, international flight operations were suspended on March 23 and was extended till September 30, through a circular release late August. 

DGCA Chief Arun Kumar said that full-fledged resumption of international flight operations will depend on the state of pandemic all over the world.

"A lot of countries are still enforcing quarantine measures & it will take some time to have fully operative international flights," Kumar had said. 

Meanwhile, the MHA on Wednesday allowed cinemas, theatres, multiplexes to open with up to 50% of their seating capacity. State governments have been given the freedom to decide about school-opening dates after October 15 as part of new unlock guidelines.