The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday extended the ban on international commercial flights till July 15.
“The competent authority has decided that scheduled international commercial passenger services to/from India shall remain suspended till 2359 hrs IST of July 15, 2020,” the DGCA said in a circular released on Friday.
The ban will not be applicable for international cargo flights and the flights that have been specially approved by the DGCA, the circular said.
“However, International Scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on case to case basis,” the circular reads.
This statement comes after several international carriers expressed their desire to commence flight operations in India.
The DGCA had taken the decision to suspend operations of international commercial flights in view of the rising number of coronavirus cases in the country.
The highest single-day surge of COVID-19 cases crossed the 17,000 mark on Friday, pushing India’s tally to 4, 90,401, while the death toll climbed to 15,301 with 407 new fatalities, according to the Union health ministry.
The number of active cases stands at 1, 89,463 while 2, 85,636 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, according to the updated figures.
Of the 407 new deaths reported till Friday morning,192 were in Maharashtra, 64 in Delhi, 45 in Tamil Nadu, 18 in Gujarat, 15 each in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, 12 in Andhra Pradesh, 10 in Haryana, eight in Madhya Pradesh, seven in Punjab, six in Karnataka, five in Telangana, four in Rajasthan and two in Jammu and Kashmir.