Regular international flights not to resume from Dec 15, says govt

Centre on Wednesday said December 15 date for resumption of scheduled international flights is no longer applicable due to the emerging threat from Omicron variant of coronavirus. DGCA said government will announce new date based on Omicron situation.

The decision comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking officials to review the plans to ease international travel restrictions in light of the “emerging new evidence”.

Modi was on Saturday briefed about the new ‘Omicron’ variant of the coronavirus, and the global trends on coronavirus cases and officials highlighted that countries across the world have experienced multiple Covid-19 surges since the onset of the pandemic, a Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) statement had said.

During the meeting, the officials briefed the prime minister about the new variant of concern, ‘Omicron’, along with its characteristics and the impact seen in various countries, the PMO said, adding that its implications for India were also discussed.

Modi spoke about the need to be proactive in light of the new variant. Modi had highlighted the need for monitoring all international arrivals, their testing as per guidelines, with a specific focus on countries identified as ‘at risk’.

He also asked the officials to “review plans for easing of international travel restrictions in light of the emerging new evidence”, the statement said.

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— DGCA (@DGCAIndia) December 1, 2021

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