The DGCA circular that was released on Wednesday stated that the decision is taken because of the emergence of new variants of concern and that they are watching the situation closely in consultation with all stakeholders. On November 27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked officials to review the plans of the resumption of international travel amid Omicron.
On Friday, the DGCA had said that they will resume international flight services from December 15. But the civil aviation body had put 12 regions and countries under the “at risk” category. However, now the situation has changed.
All the international airports in the country have been asked to implement stricter COVID-19 guidelines for international passengers amid rising concerns of the new variant. As per revised guidelines, passengers arriving in India from 'at-risk' countries will have to undergo RT-PCR tests (mandatory). They‘ll have to wait for the results before leaving the airport or taking a connecting flight.
It was in March 2020 that both domestic and international flights were suspended due to the Coronavirus outbreak. The entire world went into a lockdown and stringent rules and regulations were imposed everywhere.
But, in June 2020, the government started allowing some operations of Air India flights under the Vande Bharat mission as a rescue operation for Indian citizens stuck abroad.
