Hardeep Singh Puri, the Civil Aviation Minister of India on the 20th of June, spoke about the international flights in India.
After resuming domestic flights in India, Mr. Singh said international flights would depend on other countries.
During a press meet, Hardeep Singh said, “Any suggestion that international air traffic has opened up and we are the only ones not to open up needs a reality check. The exact time when we will resume international flights depends on other countries to be open to receive flights.” He further added, “Many countries decided that they were not going to allow nationals from other countries except their own. We also went with the same position.”
However clarifying the international travels, Hardeep Singh Puri said entry in the United States of America (U.S.A.,) the United Kingdom (U.K.,) France, Russia and China would depend on the condition and situation of travel.
Mr. Puri said, “You cannot have normal civil aviation operations under such conditions.
The aforementioned countries have a high number of cases for the Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19.
Meanwhile, currently only 33% of Civil Aviation services are in force.
The Civil Aviation Ministry is expected to expand it to 40-45 % if the demand increases.
However, complete resumption of the flight services is likely to begin by the end of the year. As of now, only 700 flights are in operation per day.
However, an official announcement regarding the same is yet to be made.
On the other hand, the Indian Government is still working to evacuate stranded Indians abroad.
According to the Civil Aviation Ministry of India, under the Vande Bharat Mission, 109,000 Indians have been brought back to India, till the 20th of June.
Vande Bharat Mission was started from the 6th of May and would likely to continue for long time.
Stay tuned for further updates.
