India on Friday extended the ban on international commercial passenger international flights till August 31, however, these restrictions will not apply to international cargo operations and flights specifically approved by the aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a statement.
“The Centre has decided to extend the suspension on the Scheduled International Commercial Passenger Services to/from India up to 23:59 hours IST of 31st August,” the statement read.
It may be mentioned here that earlier in July, in the wake of a surge in COVID-19 cases in the country, the civil aviation ministry had extended the ban on international flights till July 31.
Before that, the earlier order had said the ban would be in place till July 15.
The ban on international flights was extended even as capacity on domestic routes has been hiked to 45 per cent from the earlier 33 per cent.