Scheduled international flights suspended till July 15 but some on selected routes may be allowed: DGCA

India on Friday extended the ban on scheduled international commercial passenger flights till July 5 as the Covid-19 outbreak showed no signs of abating.

However, the restrictions will not apply to international cargo operations and flights specifically approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the sectoral regulator.

The DGCA said international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case by case basis.

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The civil aviation ministry is in talks with countries such as the US, UK, Germany and France for bilateral arrangements for air travel as demand on these routes continue to remain high even after evacuation of stranded passengers.

India has suspended all scheduled commercial passenger flights on both the domestic and international routes in March as the country went into lockdown in March to arrest the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak.

The government opened up the domestic aviation sector on May 25 with Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri announcing that he would wait for operations to reach 50-55% of the pre-Covid-19 levels before thinking of re-starting scheduled international operations.

The minister had said India will take a decision on the resumption of international passenger flights in July if coronavirus behaves in a "predictable manner" and the entire aviation ecosystem and state governments are on board.

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Domestic air travel is picking up gradually with nearly 38 lakh passengers taking to the skies since May 25.

During the pre-Covid days, India used to see three lakh passengers traveling by air every day in the domestic sectors. On June 25, the number of air travelers had reached 62,580 per day, still short of the one-third mark substantially.