India may resume int’l flights by August: minister

India's Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri today said the government will try to resume international passenger flights -- suspended since March due to coronavirus outbreak -- before August this year.

"I am hopeful that before August or September, we will try to resume a good percentage of international civil aviation operations, if not the complete operation," he said.

"I cannot put a date on it (resuming international flights). But if somebody says whether it can be done by August or September, my response is why not earlier, depending on what the situation is," he said.

"We must have a more ambitious goal (regarding international flights). Why not start them by mid-June or June-end or in July?" Puri said during a Facebook live session.

Puri's remarks came three days after he announced the government's decision to restart domestic flights from Monday, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, as some Indian states have questioned the necessity for resuming domestic flight services from Monday, Puri pointed out that some hesitation in this regard was expected.

All scheduled commercial passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 25 when the Narendra Modi-led government imposed a nationwide lockdown to contain the coronavirus outbreak.