As COVID cases rise globally, countries ban international flights

Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh has banned international flights from 20 countries, including India

The Government of India’s plan to restart the schedule of international flights this summer is unlikely as various countries have started banning international flights in the wake of rising COVID cases. The latest among these is Bangladesh that has announced a ban on all its international flights, to and from Bangladesh, from April 14 to April 20.

“Following the government guidance and instruction, with effect from 0001 BST on 14 April 2021 until 2359BST on 20 April 2021, all international passenger flights to/from Bangladesh shall remain suspended,” read the circular of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB). Bangladesh has made it very clear that only emergency and humanitarian flights are allowed in the country for the next seven days.

“Medevac, humanitarian/relief, cargo, technical landing (for refueling only), and the flights cleared under special consideration shall remain out of the purview of this suspension. Standard disinfection, sanitization, and social distancing procedure, published by CAAB or other competent authority of the government, for the passenger, crew, equipment, and aircraft (inflight or on the ground) shall strictly to be maintained followed for such flights,” the CAAB circular said.

Many Indian carriers have stopped booking of flights for Dhaka and suspended their operations, “Vistara is operating three flights in a week and operation has been suspended to/from Bangladesh (Dhaka) and no booking of flights for April 14 to April 20. Vistara’s team is in contact with the passengers for refund or rescheduling the tickets,” said a Vistara spokesperson.

Meanwhile, India’s low-cost carrier SpiceJet is also in contact with India’s aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). As of now, SpiceJet is operating flights from Kolkata with around 22 weekly departures to and from Bangladesh,
“SpiceJet is in touch with aviation regulators and we are bound to follow the order,” the Airline said.

National Carrier Air India is also in touch with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the regulator.

In the past, many countries have banned flight operations in view of a rise in the number of COVID cases. Saudi Arabia has banned international flights from 20 countries, including India, in an effort to curb the increasing cases of coronavirus cases in the country.