Domestic flight bookings can start after April 14: Hardeep Singh Puri

International flights to be permitted after April 15

Giving details on the operation of international flights, Puri said that flights will be considered on a case-by-case basis, depending on which countries they are coming from, after April 15 when the 21-day lockdown to fight the coronavirus ends in India.

“The lockdown is till April 15. And, we can start considering the resumption of flights on a case-by-case basis depending on where they are coming from after that,” Puri said.

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Puri also said Indians who are stranded in several foreign countries will have to wait till April 15 to return, adding that flights taking foreign nationals to their countries from India will not bring back any passengers.

“Any incoming flights to bring Indians back home will have to await the lifting of the lockdown,” he added.

India has allowed countries like the US, UK and Germany to conduct special flights during the lockdown to take their citizens back home. Air India has also extended its services to countries such as Germany, UK and France to facilitate the return of their citizens.

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India suspended domestic and international commercial passenger flight operations from midnight on March 24 for 21 days in sync with the nation-wide lockdown. However, cargo flights, medical evacuation flights, offshore helicopter operations and flights specially permitted by the aviation regulator DGCA can operate during this time period.

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