Omicron scare: International flights unlikely to resume from Dec 15

New Delhi, Dec 01: India on Wednesday delayed its decision on resumption of international flights in view of Omicron variant scare.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation said it will notify its decision in due course on date of resumption of scheduled commercial international passengers airline services to/from India.

It also said that situation being watched closely in view of emergence of new COVID variant.

"In view of the evolving global scenario with the emergence of new variants of concern, the situation is being closely watched in consultation with all stakeholders and appropriate decision indicating the effective date of resumption of international will be notified soon," DGCA said in a statement.

It may be recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a review meet had directed officials to review plans for easing of international travel restrictions in light of the emerging new evidence.

The prime minister also highlighted the need for monitoring all international arrivals, their testing as per guidelines, with a specific focus on countries identified 'at risk'.

The list of countries deemed at risk for now are United Kingdom, all 44 countries in Europe, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Israel.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, scheduled international flights have been suspended in India since March 23 last year.

Under an air bubble agreement between the two nations, airlines of both countries can operate special flights between their territories with certain restrictions.

India has air bubbles with Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Ukraine, the UAE, the UK, the USA and Uzbekistan.