Omicron effect:India defers resumption of international flights

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday postponed the full resumption of commercial international passenger flights from December 15 citing the new coronavirus variant of concern - Omicron."In view of the merging global scenario... the situation is being watched closely in consultation with all stakeholders and an appropriate decision indicating the effective date of resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services shall be notified in due course", DGCA said. On November 26, the government had announced the resumption of scheduled international commercial flights from December 15.

International commercial flight operations were on freeze for more than 20 months and passenger flights were operating under a bubble arrangement -- which involved two or more nations allowing flights into each other's territories, subject to certain conditions. The Centre had already announced a series of guidelines for airports that include testing on arrival for passengers from more than 50 "at risk" countries. A negative result is essential to leave the airport.  On Wednesday  morning, six international passengers arriving from 'at risk' countries have tested positive for Covid, Maharashtra has pointed out. Samples have been sent for genome sequencing.