The suspension on scheduled international commercial passenger flights has been extended by the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) till October 31, 2021.

However, the restriction doesn’t apply to international all-cargo operations, the official statement released by DGCA said.

Beside, international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on case to case basis, the notice further added.

In a bid to control the spread of COVID-19 the government had suspended the commercial international flights in March 2020. However, special international flights were permitted to operate under the ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ in May to bring home thousands of Indian nationals stranded abroad due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

The number of fresh COVID-19 cases was recorded at below 20,000 (18,795) in India after 201 days on September 28, taking the country’s COVID-19 tally to 3,36,97,581, while the number of active cases declined to 2,92,206, the lowest in 192 days, according to the Union health ministry.

A total of 18,795 fresh COVID-19 cases were registered in a span of 24 hours, while the death toll due to the viral disease climbed to 4,47,373 with 179 more fatalities, the lowest in 193 days, according to the ministry’s data updated at 8 AM.