Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri/FILE
No decision on resuming international flight operations has been made so far. "The exact time when we will resume international flight depends on other countries to be open to receive flights," Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
India resumed domestic passenger flights from May 25 after a gap of two months amid the coronavirus pandemic. International passenger flights continue to remain suspended even now.
"Any suggestion that international traffic has opened up and we are the only one not to open up needs reality check. The exact time when we will resume international flight depends on the other countries to be open to receive flights," he said.
"...In the absence of a decision on resumption of international civil aviation which will depend on other countries opening up, we are left with no option but to continue what I call evacuation and repatriation flights under managed and controlled condition," the minister added.
Futhermore, Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola said both ends have to be ready and there has to be traffic if international operations to begin. "There is a significant amount of traffic between India&North American continent. We may think of opening flights on a case to case basis," he said.
Earlier this week, Puri had said a decision regarding resumption of international travel can be taken in the coming months, ever earlier, when domestic air traffic would reach 50-55 percent of its pre-COVID capacity, and other states would be in the position to absorb more number of passengers coming in.
