The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday announced an extension in the restrictions on international flights till July 31. The restrictions will not be applicable to international all-cargo operations and flights that have specifically been approved by the DGCA. 

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The aviation regulator further stated that some scheduled international flights may be approved on specific routes on a case-to-case basis. 

On May 28, the ban on flights was extended till June 30 as on the back of an unprecedented COVID surge in the country in the summer. Domestic flight services resumed in May after the inital suspension was announced in March last year.

However, special rescue and relief flights have been operating under the ‘Vande Bharat’ mission and under India’s special bilateral air bubble arrangements with countries. 

India has an air bubble arrangement with 27 countries, includin US, the UK, the UAE, Kenya, Bhutan, and France.  

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On Monday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that when the restrictions on international travel is lefted, the first 500,000 travellers will be issued visas free of cost. 

This was one of the eight schemes announced by the finance minister to bolster an economy ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, with special focus on the health and tourism sectors. 

A number of countries also imposed a ban on travellers from India to check spread of the more contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus, which was first detected in India and is beleived to have caused the explosion of cases in the country’s second wave.

However, with India slowly recovering from the surge – as daily infections drop from over 4 lakh during the peak of the second wave to just over 45,000 on Wednesday, some countries have started accepting visa applications from Indians.