Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday said that flight restrictions will be lifted only when the government is confident that the spread of COVID-19 has been controlled.
Puri also said that some airlines were sent a notice on Monday as it did not heed the civil aviation ministry’s advice and had opened bookings.
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Taking to Twitter, the civil aviation minister further reiterated the statements he had given so far regarding the resumption of passenger flight operations.
“Our views & approach on restarting flights have been clearly stated. On April 2, I said “A decision to restart flights after this period remains to be taken” & reiterated this on 5th. On14th when Lockdown extended, I said “we can CONSIDER lifting restrictions” after Lockdown,” Puri said in a tweet.
“On April 18 I again said “So far no decision has been taken to open domestic & international operations” & reiterated on 19th that “No decision has been taken so far to commence domestic & international operations.” An advisory was also issued to airlines,” he added.
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“Since some airlines did not heed our advisory & opened bookings & started collecting money from flyers, a directive was issued to them on 19th April restraining them from doing so. They were also informed that they will be given sufficient notice & time to commence bookings,” said Puri.
“I want to once again say that flight restrictions that are in place as a result of India’s fight against COVID19 will be lifted once we are confident that spread of the virus has been controlled & it poses no danger to our country & people,” he added.