The ban on international travel was due to be lifted by end of July. But it looks like the restrictions will stay for a while.
"The government has decided to extend the suspension on the scheduled international commercial passenger services to/ from India up to 2359 hours IST of 31st August," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a statement on Friday.
The restriction does not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights that have been approved by the DGCA.
Travel will however continue under the travel bubbles created by India with the US, Germany and France. More countries are being added to the list. A couple of days back India had moved to the final stages of completing the travel bubbles between India and various countries. The government has now given the nod to travel portals for listing the Vande Bharat flights on their platforms. Earlier, passengers were allowed to book only on the company website. This does come as a sign of relief as many people were facing problems with the Air India website.
An alarming surge in the number of coronavirus cases has prompted various countries to re-impose a number of travel restrictions in recent weeks, prompting a statement from the World Health Organisation (WHO) which has said that keeping borders closed to halt the spread of COVID-19 is unsustainable. Instead of sealing borders, countries must adopt comprehensive strategies based on local knowledge of where the virus is spreading, it said.