Domestic flights to resume from 25 May, says Centre and social distancing, masks will be a must

All passenger flight services were stopped in late March following the announcement of a nationwide lockdown to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, cargo, medical evacuation and special flights were allowed by the aviation regulator DGCA to operate during the lockdown period.

During the time of lockdown, the government had started flights under Mission Vande Bharat to bring back stranded Indians from other countries.

In an interview to, Puri said that the ministry has been ready to resume domestic civil aviation for the last one week or so. He added that after receiving green signal from the government, it will take two or three days for the airlines to begin bookings and calibrate the number of flights that can resume operations.