Flights were initially suspended from December 22 midnight till December 31; this was later extended to January 7

India has decided to remove the temporary suspension of flights with the UK from 8 January and will resume air operations between the two countries in a phased manner.

Operations till January 23 will be restricted to 15 flights per week, Union Civil Aviation Hardeep S Puri said on Friday.

Citing the emergence of a new and highly infectious strain of the coronavirus in Britain, India on 21 December had ordered a temporary suspension on flights coming from UK.

These flights will operate between the UK and airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. Detailed information about the resumption of flight operations will be issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Taking to Twitter, Union Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri said, “It has been decided that flights between India & UK will resume from 8 Jan 2021.
Operations till 23 Jan will be restricted to 15 flights per week each for carriers of the two countries to & from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru & Hyderabad only. @DGCAIndia will issue the details shortly” the tweet read.


The suspension of flights came into effect from December 22 midnight and was to continue till December 31. The government later extended the temporary suspension of flights with the UK till January 7 after several Indians who had travelled from there tested positive for the new UK Covid-19 strain.

The suspension did not, however, cover international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by the DGCA. In a circular, the aviation regulator had also said that “International Scheduled Flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on case to case basis”.

Announcing the suspension of flights from the UK, the civil aviation ministry had also said that airlines operating flights to India from other countries shall not board any passenger travelling from the UK to India.

They were directed to ensure that no passenger coming from the UK is boarded in a flight for any destination in India, either directly or indirectly.