Canada extends ban on passenger flights from India till August 21

New Delhi: Canada has extended the ban on passenger flights from India until August 21 in view of the impending third wave of Covid-19 and spread of the Delta variant across the world.

The ban was imposed on April 22 and was slated to end on July 21. It is the fourth time the ban on passenger flight has been extended.

“The reason for the extension was due to the Delta variant, which is considered the dominant strain of COVID-19 worldwide,” said Transport Minister Omar Alghabra in a press meet.

Canada has also extended the requirement related to third-country pre-departure Covid-19 tests for travellers to Canada from India via an indirect route.

Passengers from India connecting at another point of departure for Canada will require a mandatory pre-departure negative RT-PCR test before continuing their journey to the Canadian destination.

The vaccines authorised for emergency use in Canada are those made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca (Covishield), and Johnson & Johnson.