After a hiatus of nearly 3 years, the government has decided to resume the scheduled commercial international passenger services to and from India from March 27, 2022. However, the Civil Aviation Ministry has said that all international operations shall be subject to strict adherence to the COVID-19 protocols by the Ministry of Health for international travel.
In a statement, the MoCA said that international operations from March 27 will be subject to strict adherence to Union health ministry guidelines that were issued on February 10.
Scheduled international flight services are suspended in India since March 23, 2020, due to the pandemic. However, special international flights have been operating between India and 37 countries since July 2020 under air bubble arrangements.
In order to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had suspended operations of scheduled international commercial passenger services to and from India with effect from March 23, 2020. Currently, in terms of DGCA’s circular February 28, 2022, suspension of scheduled international commercial passenger services to/from India has been extended till further orders.