International Flight ban extends to March 31 | Fusion - WeRIndia

As the cases of coronavirus are increasing and the new strain of it is spreading, it seems the Central government wants to extend the ban on international commercial flights till March 31.

This extension has been announced officially by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Initially, the international flight ban was meant to last till 28 February, making it an eleven-month gap.

A circular was issued by DGCA, which announced this information. The main reason for the ban to continue is, due to the sudden spike in the number of coronavirus cases in India. On Friday, there were a massive number of cases with 16,577 new Covid-19 infections.

The country’s infection count went to 11,063,491. 12,179 people recovered from the virus, making the total discharged people 10,750,680.

The flight ban is mainly for passengers. The DGCA in the circular stated that dedicated cargo flights and flight services that work under the bilateral air bubble pacts would continue to operate. These bubble pacts were made with certain countries for India.

There are 27 countries with which India made these air bubble agreements. These countries include Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Maldives, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Ukraine, the UAE, the UK, Uzbekistan and the US.

Flights moving under the bilateral air bubble agreement are ones that operate under specific conditions during the pandemic. These conditions are set upon by both parties according to the DGCA.

The commercial flight ban for international travel started on March 23, 2020. That was the time the country was forced into a lockdown due to the pandemic. Now it has almost been a year since the virus has started terrorizing the nation.

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