Maharashtra not in favour of restarting domestic passenger flight services

Even as the Centre plans resumption of domestic flights from May 25, a Maharashtra government official on Saturday said the state had not yet amended its May 19 lockdown order which allowed only certain kinds of flights.

While the Central Government of India is ready to restart the operations of its domestic flights from May 25, an official on behalf of the Maharashtra government recently told a leading daily that no change has been made in its May 19 lockdown extension order by the state.
According to the order of Maharashtra government issued on May 19 regarding the extension of the lockdown till May 31, all passenger flight services (domestic and international) will remain suspended. However, the government has allowed domestic air ambulance, domestic medical services, and movement of flights for security reasons as per the approval granted by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
"We have not yet amended this lockdown order issued on May 19," an official told PTI when queried about resumption of passenger flights in Maharashtra.
Ever since the government of India announced lockdown on March 25, the commercial passenger flights have been temporarily suspended. Hardeep Singh Puri, Civil Aviation Minister, announced during a Facebook live session that a large number of international passenger flights will be recommenced before August 2020.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra is grappling with umpteen COVID-19 infection cases every day. So far, the highest number of COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in Maharashtra. It is the worst hit state in India.