New Delhi
All domestic flight operations in the country will continue as usual, the ministry of civil aviation said on Sunday evening, minutes after Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a press conference all international and domestic flights to and from Delhi would remain suspended as part of a lockdown in the National Capital to tackle the spread of Covid-19 . Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal was also there at the conference.
Kejriwal listed the suspension of flights as one of the features of a lockdown that starts in the capital at 6am Monday.
However, soon after his announcement, the ministry of civil aviation (MoCA) released a statement saying “all domestic operations across airports in the country will continue as usual.”
Arun Kumar, chief of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation confirmed that “all domestic flight operations from Delhi and all other airports will continue.”
Later, Delhi airport operator, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) tweeted: “Kind attention to all the flyers: All scheduled domestic flight operations will continue at the #DelhiAirport. Passengers are requested to get in touch with the airline concerned for updated flight information. @MoCA_GoI”
It wasn’t clear what prompted the confusion. The Delhi government did not comment on DGCA’s clarification.
The current Parliament session is likely to end on Monday, and a closure of the airport would have also prevented parliamentarians from flying back home.
To be sure, other restrictions, including a ban on autos and taxis till March 31, as detailed by the Delhi government will continue. With Metro services suspended, passengers will have to make their own arrangements.
A civil aviation ministry official said the government has only suspended international flights to India. “A DGCA circular, released on March 19, said that no flight that takes off after 5.30 am (IST) Sunday, will be allowed to land in India. However, some flights which took off for India from their originating countries, before 5.30 am on Sunday, were allowed entry,” said the officer.
Between 7 am and 7 pm on Sunday, at least 2,200 International passengers arrived at the Delhi airport on 26 flights from different airports across world, apart from those high-risk nations from where the flights have already been suspended.