The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has extended the suspension of the scheduled international passenger flights till December 31, it said in a statement on Thursday, ANI reported.

“In partial modification of circular dated 26-06-2020”, the DGCA has extended the suspension of scheduled international commercial flights “to/from India till 2359 hrs IST of 31st December 2020,” it said in the statement.

However, the restriction will not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights approved by the DGCA.

Commercial flight operations were first suspended in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that has infected over 9.2 million people in India and killed over 135,000 of them. 

Both domestic and international flights were suspended on March 26, when a nationwide lockdown was imposed by the Centre.