Recently, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of India (DGCA) announced that the current ban on scheduled international flights will be extended till 23.59 IST on 28 February 2022. The authority has also made it clear that flights will not be affected. Passenger air bubble system and existing no-fly zones in Wind India. All these flights will continue under the existing agreements. Cargo flights have also been exempted from the ban.

"The authorities have decided to extend the suspension of international commercial passenger services departing from India till 11:59 PM on February 28, 2022," the DGCA said in a statement.

It may be noted that regular international passenger traffic in the country has been suspended since March 23, 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic first spread across the world. Since then, several return flights have been launched in May under the Vande Bharat Mission. India has joined the air bubble system with several countries to facilitate travel during the pandemic. India currently has a bubble system that passes through about 32 countries.

Earlier, in December 2021, when the number of COVID-19 cases in the country was low, India was preparing to resume passenger flights scheduled for December 15. This date was later changed to January and has now been extended to February 2022. The number of omicron infections is increasing in the country.

ALSO READ:-Republic Day: Restrictions on flights till 24 January at Delhi airport