The Ministry of Civil Aviation, on the 24th of March, announced a suspension of all domestic flight services in India from the 25th of March until further notice.
Hardeep Singh Puri, the Minister of Civil Aviation in India, took the decision in the wake of the deadly Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19. To fight the pandemic situation, the Aviation Ministry already banned international flights and now commercial domestic flights have also ceased operations.
An Aviation Ministry spokesperson said, “The operations of domestic scheduled commercial airlines shall cease with effect from the midnight that is 23.59 hours IST (Indian Standard Time) on March 24, 2020.” The spokesperson further added, “Airlines have to plan operations so as to land at their destinations before 23.59 hours on March 24, 2020.”
However, the cargo flights do not have restrictions, including domestic and international.
Meanwhile, several state governments imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and instituted a lockdown to curb the spread of COID-19 till the 31st of March.
Only medical facilities and essential commodities would be allowed during this lockdown period. The decision to do so was taken after the 14 hour Janata Curfew, held on the 22nd of March.
Stay tuned for further updates about COVID-19.
