All scheduled international commercial passenger flights will remain suspended until midnight local time on 14 April, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) of India announced on Thursday (26 March).
Previously, the suspension, which started on 22 March, was meant to take place until 29 March. This move was made in an attempt to stop the spread of the COVID-19.
The new order from the Indian DGCA, however, will not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights that have prior approval.
Besides that, domestic passenger flight operations have also been banned till 31 March. Passenger train and bus services also remain suspended.
Earlier on Tuesday (24 March), Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India’s 1.3 billion people will go under “total lockdown” for 21 days to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
“From 12 midnight today (1830 GMT Tuesday), the entire country will be in lockdown, total lockdown,” he said in a national television address to the world’s second most-populous nation.
“To save India, to save its every citizen, you, your family… every street, every neighbourhood is being put under lockdown.”
As of Thursday night, India had recorded 647 confirmed cases and 16 deaths.