From Krishnan Nayar
NEW DELHI, 1st December 2021 (WAM) – India has put off its decision to resume regular, scheduled international flights from 15th December "in view of the evolving global scenario with the emergence of new Coronavirus variants of concern."
Neeraj Kumar, Director of Regulation and Information at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) here, revised his own order of 26th November and announced today that "an appropriate decision indicating the effective date of resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services shall be notified in due course."
Kumar’s revised order said the change in plans was the result of consultations with all stakeholders after watching the situation closely. Following the outbreak of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 infections in several parts of the world, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked senior officials to review the plans for ending a 21-month ban on scheduled international flights.
Subsequently, a meeting called by India’s Home Secretary, Ajay Bhalla, took a closer look at the matter. Today, the Ministry of Civil Aviation concurred with the DGCA’s decision to keep the reopening plan for regular international flights in abeyance.