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‘Precautionary’: Air India on Suspending Bookings Till 30 April

Air India said it has stopped bookings till 30 April and is awaiting a decision after 14 April.

Updated
India
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Air India on Friday, 3 April, said it has stopped bookings till 30 April and is awaiting a decision after 14 April, when the nationwide lockdown is scheduled to end. Bookings have been stopped for both domestic and international routes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had imposed a 21-day-lockdown, which began on 25 March, to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Domestic and international commercial flights in the country are suspended till 14 April amid the lockdown, to curb spread of the virus.

An airline official said, “We have stopped taking bookings from today (3 April) till 30 April. This is just a precautionary step. We will review this as soon as there is more clarity with respect to the lockdown period.”
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In contrast, Vistara airlines on Friday announced that they will continue to take bookings from 15 April onwards as of now and will action otherwise if there are any new notification from the ministry, reported ANI, quoting an airlines spokesperson.

On Thursday, Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola said airlines are free to take ticket bookings for any date after 14 April.

Air India had earlier decided to cancel flights to Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Israel, South Korea and Sri Lanka till 30 April, an airline official had said on 13 March, amid mounting concerns over coronavirus epidemic.

After the government had decided to ban the operations of all the domestic flights from 25 March, several airlines faced difficulties in repaying the cancellation amount to the passengers. Some airlines even resorted to giving its employees less salaries amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The number of coronavirus cases in India on Friday, 3 April, surged to 2,547, in what is the highest spike over 24 hours, with 478 new cases.

According to the Health Ministry data, as of late on Friday, there are a total of 2,322 active cases across the country and 62 deaths. As many as 162 patients have been cured or discharged and one patient has migrated.

(With inputs from PTI, CNBC)

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