It was only on November 26 that the Centre had announced that commercial international flights would resume on December 15. However, given both the uncertainty and the concern over the latest Omicron variant of coronavirus, the Government of India has put on hold the resumption of commercial international passenger flights from December 15.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday announced that it was closely monitoring in the wake of the resumption of scheduled international passenger flights, after the new variant of COVID-19 'Omicron' sparked concerns. It also said that an appropriate decision indicating the effective date of resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services shall be notified in due course.

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Representational imagevia Twitter/IndiGo

In a statement also released on its official Twitter account, the regulatory body said, "In view of the evolving global scenario with the emergence of new variants of concern, the situation is being watched closely in consultation with all stakeholders."

Ban on international flights to continue

The decision to defer flights was taken after consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of External Affairs, and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The said notification from DGCA, thus carries forward the ban imposed on scheduled commercial international passenger flights, which has been imposed by the Centre since March 23, 2020. 

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After the new Omicron variant hit the headlines across the world, there has been a lot of ruckus and noise over it back home. With several political parties and people requesting the concerned authorities to closely monitor international arrivals and even consider deferring resumption of international passenger flights. 

After the last of such bans imposed by DGCA came to an end on Tuesday and the latest renewed notification, made many netizens take to social media and rue about the proverbial 'slip between the cup and the lip.'

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