NEW DELHI (TIP) Full resumption of international flights stands postponed at least till January 31, 2022, according to an announcement by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Thursday, December 9. Last week, days after announcing resumption of international flights from December 15, the Government postponed its decision indefinitely due to fresh concerns over the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron. An order from the DGCA on December 1 said that a new date would be announced in “due course of time”. On Thursday, the DGCA said, “the competent authority has decided to extend suspension of scheduled commercial international passenger services to/ from India till 2359 hours IST of 31st January 2022”. It added that international flights under air-bubble agreement with 32 countries would continue as before. In a relief for travelers arriving in India from Singapore, they will no longer be subjected to mandatory on-arrival RT-PCR test and seven-day quarantine, after the government removed the island city-state from its list of “at-risk” countries. Singapore had announced that it was restarting flight connectivity with India from November 29, after a gap of 20 months, and fully vaccinated Indian passengers could avail quarantine-free entry under its “Vaccinated Travel Lane” scheme. But later that month, in a setback to many planning to reunite with their families after a long time, India put Singapore on the list of at-risk countries requiring passengers arriving into the country to undergo additional health safety protocols.

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Singapore will now be classified with countries “not at risk”. Passengers arriving from these countries can enjoy quarantine-free travel within India and will only need to self-monitor their health for 14 days. In addition, a random selection of a mere 2% of passengers travelling from Singapore will need to undergo RT-PCR testing on arrival at Indian airports. The “at-risk” list of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare now comprises Europe and 11 countries — South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Ghana, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Hong Kong and Israel.