In light of the rising Covid-19 cases, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a statement saying that international commercial passenger services to/from India shall remain suspended till July 15, 2020, even though international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case-to-case basis. The international flight ban had come into effect in India on March 22, just days before the first Covid-19 lockdown was announced in the country.

pic.twitter.com/m4j7CEMLF7

— DGCA (@DGCAIndia) June 26, 2020

In another announcement, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), allowed airlines to operate upto 45 percent of their pre-lockdown scheduled capacity on domestic routes, compared with 30-35 percent earlier, The Indian Express reported.

On June 20, Hardeep Singh Puri, Civil Aviation Minister, had announced that the government would reconsider starting regular international flights when domestic traffic reaches 50-60 percent.

We can start regular international flights when our domestic traffic reaches about 50-60% & other countries open up to international traffic without present conditionalities.

Once the situation evolves in that direction we will consider a calibrated opening.@MoCA_GoI

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) June 20, 2020

Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, said, “Domestic airlines ferried 18 lakh passengers in one month. Over 700 flights a day are operating. These numbers are low on a year-on-year basis. We will rework, renew and retune our strategies for the growth of the sector as we go along,” The Indian Express reported.

Last week, the United States governments restricted charter flights from India, part of the Vande Bharat mission, alleging India had engaged in “unfair and discriminatory practices” by violating a treaty governing aviation between the two countries, The Indian Express had reported.

The US Transportation Department alleged that Air India Ltd has been making flights to repatriate those citizens who were stuck in the US due to the travel restrictions brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and selling tickets to the public. The department said this created a “competitive disadvantage for US carriers” as US airlines have been prohibited from flying to India amid the pandemic.

In response, India had said, “We have received requests from concerned authorities in several countries including US, France, Germany among others requesting that their air carriers be allowed to participate in transportation of passengers along the line being conducted by Air India under Vande Bharat Mission.”

Hurdles in resuming international flight operations

While there is a high demand for international flights, with many Indians still being stranded abroad, the biggest hurdle that could come in the way of the resumption of international flights is India’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently, cases in India have crossed 5 lakhs and there are over 2 lakh active cases in the country.

The main hubs of travel, Maharashtra ( 164,626 total cases), Delhi ( 83,077 total cases)and Gujarat (31,397 total cases) are still under a firm grip of the pandemic. To protect their people from the infection, some countries are looking at a filtered border approach by keeping out some nations where governments have been able to effectively contain the virus, reported India.com. If India resumes such operations, the situation could get more precarious depending on the countries it starts operations for, especially the US which has the highest number of Covid-19 infections in the world.

Related:

US accuses India of unfair and discriminatory practices, restricts Vande Bharat charter flights
Will India lift the incoming flight ban to let visa overstayers fly back from the US?

The post DGCA extends ban on international flights till July 15 appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Rohit Mateti, the pilot-in-command of the IndiGo flight that Kunal Kamra was on board when he confronted Arnab Goswami about his style of journalism, has conveyed to the airlines management that he was “disheartened” with the sequence of events that took place in the matter. He has especially questioned why the carrier took action against the comedian without consulting him first, as protocol demanded.

He told PTI, “As captain of 6E5317 Mumbai-Lucknow flight on January 28, I do not find…events reportable in any way. Mr. Kamra’s behaviour, while unsavoury, was not qualifying of a level 1 unruly passenger. Indeed, we pilots can all attest to incidents similar and/or worse in nature that were not deemed unruly.”

“Furthermore, I was disheartened to learn that my airline has taken action in this case solely on the basis of social media posts, with no consultation whatsoever with the pilot in command. This is somewhat unprecedented in my nine years of airline flying. Moving forward, am I to understand that the bar for interpretation of a disruptive passenger is lower/different when it comes to high profile cases? I would like a clarification from the airline as this leaves a lot of room for ambiguity,” he added.

The statement by the Captain had been posted on Twitter, but the veracity of the same has not been independently verified.

1/2

Statement by the Captain of the flight clearly stating that @kunalkamra88 never endangered safety or disobeyed any instructions.

So how did most of the airlines ban his travel without any formal enquiry? @HardeepSPuri – the nation wants to know! pic.twitter.com/EklhZehv9V

— Skipper (@FlyingMariner) January 30, 2020

On Thursday, IndiGo Airlines told PTI, “We have received the relevant statements and the internal committee has initiated the investigation regarding this incident.”

IndiGo statement: We have taken cognizance of the letter of the pilot, who was operating the flight on which Kunal Kamra and Arnab Goswami were traveling. We have received the relevant statements and the internal committee has initiated the investigation regarding this incident. pic.twitter.com/OhZV8PokTM

— ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2020

Post the Captain’ statement, Civil Aviation Minister, Hardeep Puri put out another statement with regards to the incident.

I had expressed my views with regard to the unruly behavior of a passenger on board @IndiGo6E flight.

I reiterate that Airlines must ensure”Zero Tolerance” for any activity which has the potential to jeopardize safety of Passengers in an Aircraft.

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) January 30, 2020

DGCA rules demand that after receiving a complaint, the internal committee formed by the airline must come up with a report of the incident within 30 days. The decision taken by the committee may be appealed against by the passenger at the court and an appellate body of the Civil Aviation Ministry. However, even before the pilot could submit his report, IndiGo had imposed a six month ban on Kamra. After Hardeep Puri’s first tweet on the matter, Kamra was banned indefinitely by Air India, SpiceJet and GoAir too.

Related:

What behaviour can put you on the no-fly list?

Kunal Kamra trolls Arnab Goswami on a plane

The post Did not find events reportable: IndiGo pilot on Kamra ban appeared first on SabrangIndia.