India to take call on allowing foreign flights post lockdown

PTI24-03-2020_000101B

NEW DELHI: India will take a call on a case-by-case basis to allow international flights ferrying stranded Indians post the lockdown period, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Thursday.

According to the minister, the current lockdown period is till midnight of April 14 and only after that any decision to allow foreign flights to operate to India can be taken. Puri, who was addressing an online press conference, said that the decision to allow flights will be taken on a case-by-case basis.

During the conference, Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola said the government had put certain additional restrictions on flights from China and other places which were considered as hotspots of COVID-19. He said that flights from these destinations would only be allowed after assessing the prevailing situation at these locations.

At present, no foreign or domestic passenger flight operations are allowed, but cargo operations are still underway.