India to keep international and domestic flights prohibited

As India deals with more and more confirmed coronavirus cases, the government has announced that they will extend the lockdown. The lockdown was thought to bring a fresh set of rules which would permit domestic travel again.

Air India Airbus A320neo. Photo by Karam Sodhi | AeroNewsX

Unfortunately, international and domestic passenger travel will continue to be prohibited. On May 17, The government of India announced that the lockdown shall continue to remain in force up to 31st May, 2020. This means that all domestic and international air travel will remain prohibited except for domestic medical services, domestic air ambulance and/or for security purposes.

India is divided into separate zones. If a zone is green, this means there are no confirmed cases in the last 21 days and there are no more restrictions. Red zones are the ones with the most confirmed cases and are in full lockdown and orange zones include districts which are not case-free but are not the worst hit either. Flights are only allowed between green zones.

Most major cities and their airports are in either red or orange zones, which means operating into them is not allowed. Airlines were hoping on a fresh set of rules which possibly would allow domestic air travel again, but it looks like the government of India is not planning on relaxing this rule just yet.