India Extends Ban on Flight Services: International scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes.
The restrictions on international passenger flights have been extended till March 31, aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation or DGCA said in a statement on Friday.
"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 hours IST of 31st March, 2021," the aviation body said.
The restrictions will not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specially approved by the aviation watchdog.
"However, International Scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case-to-case basis," it added.
The restrictions on international flights in the country were announced in March last year to check the transmission of the coronavirus. Over the months, the Centre, which is the highest executive authority in matters related to the pandemic, has eased restrictions in most of the sectors of the economy but not the international flight operations.
The Centre allowed domestic flight operations later last year.
Last December, the authorities had placed a ban on flights to and from the United Kingdom over the discovery of a highly contagious strain of the coronavirus in the European country. The ban was later revoked.