As the death toll in China passes 560 due to deadly coronavirus outbreak, Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) told airlines on Wednesday that any person who will henceforth travel to the country will be quarantined on return. IndiGo and Air India have suspended all of their flights between India and China. SpiceJet continues to fly on the Delhi-Hong Kong route.
“People have already been advised to refrain from travel to China through an earlier advisory. People travelling to China henceforth will be quarantined on return,” the aviation watchdog said in its circular to airlines.
“Existing visas (including eVisa already issued) are no longer valid for any foreign national travelling from China,” it added. Over last weekend, Air India sent two special flights to Wuhan in China to evacuate stranded people. All 647 have been quarantined for two weeks on their return to India.
On Tuesday, Air India announced that it will suspend its flights to Hong Kong after the authorities in Hong Kong confirmed the death of a patient suffering from the new Coronavirus. Earlier, IndiGo suspended all three flights between India and China. Air India suspended its Delhi-Shanghai flight and curtailed the flight operations on the Delhi-Hong Kong route. From February 8, it will be suspending operations on the Delhi-Hong Kong route too.