New Delhi (NVI): The ban on passenger flights to Kolkata from six metro cities has been extended till the end of this month, July 31, in the wake of rising coronavirus cases.
The ban which has already been in place since July 6 has now been extended for the flights arriving from 6 cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Nagpur and Ahmedabad.
The decision comes after the West Bengal government requested the Civil Aviation Ministry to restrict flight movement from cities with high prevalence of Covid-19 cases in order to curb the spread of virus.
On Friday evening, the Kolkata Airport tweeted, “The restriction on arriving flights to #KolkataAirport from 6 cities viz Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Nagpur & Ahmedabad has been extended up to 31st July.”
Earlier, the airport had announced that no passenger flight would be arriving in Kolkata from six particular metro cities from July 6 to July 19.
In the pre-COVID period, the Kolkata airport operated around 200 domestic and 35 international flights regularly.
However, West Bengal continues to witness a steep rise in cases, with the total number of cases being at 38,011 while the death toll is at 1,049.
-RJV/CHK
