International Flights Won't Resume On December 15; Govt To Decide New Date
A note from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation today read: "In view of the merging global scenario... the situation is being watched closely in consultation with all stakeholders."
India has delayed resumption of international flights in view of the emerging threat from the new coronavirus variant Omicron, aviation regulator said. The commercial international flights -- tentatively scheduled for December 15 -- is set to be postponed.
DGCA's statement
A note from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation today read: "In view of the merging global scenario... the situation is being watched closely in consultation with all stakeholders and an appropriate decision indicating the effective date of resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services shall be notified in due course".
¡ª DGCA (@DGCAIndia) December 1, 2021
This follows the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) announcing earlier that airlines can resume scheduled overseas flights from 15 December with graded restrictions.
BCCL
But this plan was placed under review after a new variant of coronavirus 'Omicron' was detected and cases started popping up across a few countries.
Flights suspended since March 2020
India had suspended international flights from 23 March 2020 amid coronavirus pandemic. However, special international passenger flights have been operating since July last year under air bubble arrangements formed with approximately 28 countries.
Under an air-bubble pact between two countries, special international flights can be operated by their airlines between their territories with specific restrictions.
Unsplash
About Omicron variant
It¡¯s been almost two years since the deadly Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the world's known rhythm of functioning. From healthcare and education to economy and business- hardly we can name any sector that hasn¡¯t borne the brunt of the devastating pandemic.
After a brief respite from the damages caused by the detrimental Delta variant which took the world by storm in the second wave of Covid-19, ¡®Omicron¡¯ recently has been declared as the latest ¡®variant of concern¡¯ (VOC) by the apex global health body World Health Organization (WHO).
Reuters
According to WHO¡¯s official statement, ¡°Based on the evidence presented indicative of a detrimental change in Covid-19 epidemiology, the TAG-VE has advised WHO that this variant should be designated as a VOC, and the WHO has designated B.1.1.529 as a VOC, named Omicron.¡±
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