A day after the central government overruled Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, it has decided to suspend all domestic flights with effect from 25 March. The latest announcement came just hours after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation publicly countered Kejriwal on Sunday when he said that no domestic flights will be allowed to land in or leave the national capital.
The DGCA had tweeted, “Domestic flights to and from IGIA Delhi shall continue to operate and the Airport shall remain functional.”
Domestic flights to and from IGIA Delhi shall continue to operate and the Airport shall remain functional.
— DGCA (@DGCAIndia) March 22, 2020
The Union Civil Aviation Ministry on Monday said in a statement that in order to restrict travel amid the coronavirus pandemic, all domestic flights will be suspended starting from Wednesday. Airline operators have been directed to conclude their last flight no later than 23.59 hours on Tuesday night.
“The operations of domestic schedule commercial airlines shall cease with effect from the midnight that is 23.59 hours IST (Indian Standard Time) on March 24, 2020,” a ministry spokesperson was quoted by news agency PTI.
India has already suspended international flights from a week starting from the last Sunday.
This came after chief ministers of at least two states, Bihar and Bengal, urged the Centre to suspend flights to their states. Both Bengal and Bihar have reported at least one death each due to coronavirus outbreak.