Canada Extends Ban On Passenger Flights From India, Pakistan Till June 21

The Canadian government has announced to extend the ban on direct passenger flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days.

According to the media reports, Canada has extended the ban on direct flights from India and Pakistan till June 21 owing to the deadly COVID-19 outbreak.

The past 30-day ban, imposed on April 22, was set to expire Saturday. However, Cargo flights will still be allowed in order to maintain shipments of essential supplies.

“Minister of Transport is of the opinion it is necessary for aviation safety and the protection of the public,” said a notice to airmen.

The ban applies to direct flights from both countries. Passengers can still fly to Canada from India or Pakistan by arriving via a third country. They will need to produce a negative result on a COVID-19 test taken at their last point of departure before being permitted to enter Canada.

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said the limitation was put in point “based on public health advice to reduce the importation risk of COVID-19 and its variants.”

“I can say that we’ve seen a significant reduction in the number of positive cases of COVID-19 arriving from international flights since this restriction was put in place,” he said.

Pakistan Asks Canada To Reconsider Decision Of Flights’ Suspension

Earlier, Pakistan had asked the Canadian government for reconsidering its decision of suspending all passenger flights from Islamabad for 30 days.

In a letter to Canadian Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra, Pakistan High Commissioner to Canada Raza Bashir Tarar drew attention to the fact that Pakistan, like all other countries, had been facing the pandemic but it had managed it well due to its strategy of smart lockdowns.

He had assured the minister that Pakistan’s testing mechanism is very robust and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) only accepted results from the best laboratories and matched them with a barcode on every result sheet.

Previously, the Canadian government had announced that it will ban passenger flights from India and Pakistan for the next 30 days.

All direct commercial and private passenger flights from India and Pakistan had been included in the ban, although cargo flights will still be permitted, media reports said.

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