VASCO
In a major setback to charter operators planning flights to Goa, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday postponed the resumption of international flights from December 15 in view of the emerging global scenario arising out of Omicron variant of Covid-19.
In a circular, the DGCA stated that “in view of the evolving global scenario with the emergence of new variants of concern, the situation is being watched closely in consultation with all stakeholders.”
“An appropriate decision indicating the effective date of resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services shall be notified in due course,” the circular added.
The circular has been sent to all foreign and domestic scheduled airlines operating flights to and from India and all airport operators in the country.
Last week, the DGCA had announced the reopening of international flights from December 15 after a gap of 20 months. Scheduled international flights have been suspended in the country since March 23, 2020, due to the outbreak of the Covid pandemic.
The DGCA, however, said its order won’t affect the current flights that are operating as it is only for the complete resumption that has now been postponed.
Meanwhile, eleven flights from “at-risk” countries landed at India’’s various airports, except Lucknow, from midnight to 4 pm on Wednesday carrying 3,476 passengers.
“All 3,476 passengers were administered RT PCR Tests, wherein only six passengers were found to be Covid positive,” the ministry said, adding the samples of the positive passengers have been sent to INSACOG labs for ‘’Whole Genomic Sequencing’’.
The ‘’at-risk’’ nations (updated on November 30) are countries in Europe, including the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel.
Travellers from these countries need to follow additional measures on arrival in India, including post-arrival testing.
The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday had revised the Guidelines for International Arrivals mandating that two per cent of the total passengers coming from countries that are not in the ‘’at-risk’’ category will also be tested for Covid on a random basis at the airports.
