India defers resumption of international airlines amid omicron scare

New Delhi : Amid rising threat of the new coronavirus variant, the Indian aviation authorities have deferred the resumption of international airlines till further notice.

In view of the evolving global scenario with the emergence of new variants of concern, the situation is being closely watched in consultation with all stakeholders and appropriate decision indicating the effective date of resumption of international will be notified soon, DGCA said in a statement.

The official statement comes days after PM Modi suggested reconsidering the decision to resume international airlines decision. It was earlier announced that the international commercial flights will start from December 15.

Detected in South Africa last week, a dozen of nations have reported Omicron infected patients.

The heavily mutated Omicron variant is likely to spread internationally and poses a very high risk of infection surges that could have "severe consequences" in some places, the World Health Organization (WHO) had said earlier.

India is yet to detect a Omicron infected patient.