Air India suspends domestic flight bookings until April 30

Reports are coming in that Air India has now closed all domestic flight bookings until April 30. This is being done as the government is planning to open up air services in phases. As part of the lockdown, both domestic and international flights have been suspended until April 14, 2020, and international flights will be permitted to fly from April 15, in phases.
The same case by case opening of domestic flights is being considered by the central government, and according to reports the suspension of the domestic network is an internal decision. According to a source, the opening of reservations for flights can be done at any time. There could however be restrictions levied by states, and can truncate flight schedules. Hence, Air India has decided that the airline company will not create unnecessary liability of refunds in these unsure times in case of flight cancellations.


Air India is waiting for the last day of lockdown to pass, and then they will be making decisions pertaining to this matter. On the other hand, SpiceJet, and GoAir are open for domestic flights from April 15, and for international flights from May 1. Vistara will continue to take booking from April 15 onwards, unless there is some change in the lockdown rule.
In other news, Air India has also reportedly suspended pilots, temporarily disengaging them. Some reports say that about 200 pilots have been suspended, those who were re-employed after their retirement.