TLI Staff
New Delhi: All domestic flights would be suspended from the intervening night of March 24-25 bringing the entire air transport system in the country to a grinding halt. With cases of local infection of deadly Coronavirus on the rise, the government has taken this extreme measure.
All passenger trains and international flights already remain suspended as part of the nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19.
With impending concern of local transmission of the virus, many states have ordered a complete lockdown of districts where Coronavirus positive cases have been reported. The move followed a voluntary “Janata Curfew” on March 22 on the call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The operations of domestic schedule commercial airlines shall cease operations with effect from the mid night that is 23.59 hours IST on 24/3/2020. Airlines have to plan operations so as to land at their destination before 2359 hours on 24/3/2020. The restrictions shall not apply to solely cargo carrying flights,” a government official said.
In what suggests that the restrictions could prevail over longer period, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday appealed people to take the lockdown seriously and not step out from their homes in order to protect themselves, their families and others. He also asked state governments to strictly enforce the lockdown.
The PM while announcing the Janata Curfew had said that the one-day self-imposed curfew was just a beginning of long fight against the deadly virus.
In the wake of new cases of the virus and panic around it, people have already been postponing and cancelling their travel. Airlines have seen massive drop in their flight occupancy. So much so that some carriers pulled out flights due to low passenger load on various routes.
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