International flights in India to resume only after 31 January

Full resumption of international flights is postponed at least until 31 January 2022, according to an announcement by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of India on Thursday.

Last week, days after announcing the resumption of international flights from 15 December, the Government postponed its decision indefinitely due to fresh concerns over the new COVID-19 variant Omicron. An order from the DGCA on December 1 said that a new date would be announced in "due course of time".

On Thursday, the DGCA said, "the competent authority has decided to extend the suspension of scheduled commercial international passenger services to/ from India till 23:59 hours IST of 31st January 2022". It added that international flights under the air-bubble agreement with 32 countries (including Switzerland) would continue as before.

Passengers arriving from countries "not at risk" can enjoy quarantine-free travel within India and will only need to self-monitor their health for 14 days.

The "at-risk" list of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare now comprises Europe and 11 countries - South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Ghana, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Hong Kong and Israel.

International flights were suspended on 23 March 2020 in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.

*Source " Aviation 24 " by André Orban