New Delhi, May 23 (DN&V): Union Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on 23 May, that they will “try to start (a) good percentage of international passenger flights before August”, days after he announced that domestic flight operations will recommence in a calibrated manner from 25 May.
“We will try to start (a) good percentage of international passenger flights before August… There’s no contradiction between domestic flights beginning from 25 May and lockdown in India being imposed till 31 May,” he was quoted as saying.
The minister was answering questions during a Facebook live session on civil aviation operations on Saturday. While calling the Aarogya Setu application an “excellent contact-tracing device”, Puri said he doesn’t understand the need for quarantining a passenger who has a green status on the application.
On the Vande Bharat Mission, he claimed that the government will have been able to bring back around 50,000 citizens through the special flights in the first 25 days of the mission.
On 20 May, the Civil Aviation Minister tweeted saying that domestic civil aviation operations will recommence in a calibrated manner from 25 May. The resumption of domestic operations comes almost two months after planes were grounded due to the nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus. Under the fourth phase of the lockdown, which will continue till 31 May, significant relaxations have been granted to various sectors to ease the blow on the economy.
