Numerous Airlines, Countries Banning Flights To India

India is reporting an average of 314,000 cases a day of people testing positive for COVID-19, a surge that is prompting numerous airlines and at least two countries and one territory to cancel flights to the country.

Canada’s federal government will ban passenger flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days amid rising COVID-19 case counts in India and concerns about mutations of the coronavirus, according to the Canadian Broadcast Corp.

An increasing number of travelers from both countries have been arriving in Canada with COVID-19, thus all commercial and private passenger flights from those countries have been barred effective April 22.

The United Arab Emirates’ national airline, Emirates, suspended flights between Dubai and India for 10 days effective Sunday, April 25. That is a critical blow for India, as Dubai is a key connecting city for the country.

Even United Airlines has temporarily suspended a daily flight between Newark-Liberty International and Delhi. In an emailed statement to Indian financial website Money Control, a spokesperson for United said the airline was hoping to resume service as soon as possible.

“As we seek clarity regarding travel requirements to India, we have temporarily suspended service,” the airline confirmed in a statement. “We are working to provide alternate options to our customers and plan to resume our scheduled service as soon as possible.”

There were even reports, not confirmed by United, that the flight between Newark and Delhi on Thursday, April 22, was canceled because the crew refused to undergo a COVID-19 test upon arrival in India. Reportedly, the pilot turned the plane around with no passengers and flew back to New Jersey, forcing United to cancel the flight.