The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday prolonged the ban of all domestic, non-scheduled and private flight working till 14th April in the midst of nation wide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
This comes a day after the aviation regulation stated that all international commercial passenger flight will remain suspended till 14th April. Previously, DGCA has stated that international commercial passenger flight will remain suspended till 29th March and domestic flights till 31st March.
DGCA in a notice stated that all domestic operation engaged in scheduled, non scheduled and private flight operation in India has been prolonged untill 23.59 hrs IST on 14th April.
“It has been decided that all scheduled international commercial passenger services shall remain closed till 1830 hrs GMT of April 14, 2020. However, this restriction will not apply to all international cargo operations and flights specifically approved by DGCA,” the regulator said.
This signifies that international commercial flight will be able to function from 15th April, 12 am IST.
Air India has also put out the suspension of all its domestic and international flight till 14th April.
“All Domestic and International flight service of Air India remain cancelled till 14th April 2020,” an Air India spokesperson tweeted.
As maintained by airline sources, flights going to US, Europe, UK, Australia, Singapore, Kabul, Male, Katmandu, Sharjah, Tel Aviv, Dubai and Abu Dhabi will start after 14th April.
“The airline is planning to suspend a few flight operations for the entire month of April. These may include Shanghai, Seoul, Hong Kong, Dammam, Riyadh, Jeddah,” the source said.
GoAir also put out that it will suspend all its domestic and international flight untill 14th April.
The centre had suspended all domestic commercial flights from midnight on 24th March but stated that the ristrictions will not be applicable to cargo flights.