After not being able to fly during the nationwide lockdown, Airline companies entertain Twitteratis with an interesting word play on Twitter.

All the scheduled domestic and international flights have been cancelled till May 3, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the extension of the nationwide lockdown till 3rd of May.

Private carrier Indigo airline has said that it will start flight operations from May 4 after the end of the nationwide lockdown.

As many as 10 rapid testing booths will be set up at industrial estates and state borders, the health minister said.

The airlines have said that they will not refund the money back for cancelled tickets and customers can get their tickets scheduled for the next available date.

The doctors and health care workers across the country have been successful in curing a total of 1305 people who were infected with Coronavirus but their efforts could not be enough to save lives of 377 people from highly-infectious Covid-19.

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the extension of nationwide lockdown till May 3, 2020, the Ministry of Home Affairs has released guidelines for the lockdown.

Guidelines on refunds for flight ticket cancellations during the lockdown period have been issued!

Earlier this week, the government extended the lockdown till May 3.

The UNWTO called on all governments to continuously review travel restrictions and ease or lift them as soon as it is safe to do so.

More than 16,000 passenger jets are grounded worldwide, according to industry researcher Cirium, as the coronavirus obliterates travel and puts unprecedented strain on airline finances.

As the Coronavirus outbreak intensifies in India, the Ministry of Home Affairs have decided to extend the suspension of existing Indian visas given to foreign nationals.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted that the Ministry of Civil Aviation is yet to decide on opening domestic or international operations

The tourists are staying like a family and the guesthouse owner has waived their expanses for one week due to the lockdown imposed in response to contain the coronavirus, leaving many tourists stranded.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has directed al airlines to refrain from booking tickets as no decision has been taken to commence the operation of domestic, international flights from May 4, 2020.

This comes in the backdrop of the Uttarakhand government contemplating a change in the traditions of the opening of the famed Himalayan temples. 

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri took to Twitter to indicate that the restrictions will only be lifted once the government is confident that the outbreak of Coronavirus has been controlled.

The decision to reschedule the opening of the temple gates was taken in view of circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic, Dharmadhikari of the Badrinath temple Bhuvan Chandra Uniyal said.

The plea which has been filed by the Pravasi Legal Cell has also requested the court to declare the action of the airlines not refunding the full amount illegal and violative of the Civil Aviation Requirement.

Making things worse is that some countries that are specifically hard-hit by the coronavirus are also heavily dependent on tourism, like Italy and Spain.

The Ministry of External Affairs organises the yatra from June-September each year through two different routes -- Lipulekh Pass (Uttarakhand) and Nathu La Pass (Sikkim).

The crisis has jeopardised India's 5 lakh crore tourism industry and employment of an estimated 3.8 crore jobs, FAITH said in a statement.

In February 2020, international passenger capacity reduced by 13 per cent, mainly related to traffic from/to States experiencing an early outbreak and States deeply interconnected to China.

Even though the work has started authorities have ensured that each and every norms of the Coronavirus COVID-19 Lockdown extension are followed at the Kashi Vishwanath Dham project site.

''The opening ceremony of the four temples in Uttarakhand is an important annual event attended by thousands of pilgrims but the extended lockdown to halt the spread of coronavirus has cast its shadow on the yatra this year. The Chardham yatra begins with the opening of Gangotri and Yamunotri temples on April 26 this year.''

The annual "Chandan Yatra" and "Akshaya Tritiya" festivals of Lord Jagannath will be held inside the temple premises in Puri on Sunday.

A seer in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura city on Saturday demanded that the Uttarakhand government revoke its decision of postponing the opening of the Badrinath shrine and said "changing the auspicious date means inviting wrath of the deity".

More than 1 lakh Indian nationals from the state of Kerala have expressed their desire to come back from different countries in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

French President Emmanuel Macron promised to rebuild within five years but work so far has been slow. Delays were caused by toxic lead released by the fire, winter storms and then by the COVID-19 epidemic which closed the site in March.

The Kerala government has asked Keralites who are stranded in different parts of the country to register on the Non-Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA) website for their safe return to the state.

The doors of the eleventh jyotirlinga at Kedarnath in the Garhwal Himalayas were opened at 6.10 am.

Trump told reporters that this could be done in coordination with either the airlines or government. ''We're working with the airlines. Maybe it's a combination of both,'' he said.

Now nearly 3 lakh expats spanning 150 countries are expected to return to Kerala, with registrations already taking place on the online registration facility called Norka Roots.

All states have been requested to give a complete waiver on all fixed electricity and other utility charges as well as excise duties without any penalties to the tourism and hospitality industry, FAITH said in a statement.

Flyers, who had booked flights via Paytm, will receive the refund in their airline credit shell. They can redeem that refund amount in order to book a flight ticket via Paytm website and mobile site.

The airline may make further changes in compliance with regulatory guidelines once they are finalized and notified, Vistara said in a statement.

Earlier this month, people of Jalandhar also witnessed snow-capped mountain peaks of the Himalayas after decades.

Coronavirus Lockdown: The third round of lockdown has come with detailed rules for green, orange and red zones and has allowed some services to open in each zone with specific guidelines.

Suspension of flight operations has been extended till May 17, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a circular issued today.

Once the cases started increasing rapidly in the country, the Centre announced a lockdown on March 24, leaving lakhs of Indians stranded, with nowhere to go.

These three flights transported over 50 Tonnes of cargo including pharmaceuticals, fruits and vegetables in the belly and cabin.

India will send flights to several countries between May 7 and 13. Among the countries, India is likely to send 10 flights to the UAE, seven flights each to the US, and the UK. Apart from these, India will send five to Saudi Arabia, five to Singapore, and two flights to Qatar

The operation of two flights from Qatar to Kerala is a part of Modi's government's mega mission to evacuate close to 15,000 Indians stranded in 12 countries between May 7 and May 13.

The earlier forecast, which was shared with the government in March 2020, had put tourism's economic value at risk at around Rs 5 lakh crore, FAITH said in a statement.

Lockdown in India has brought some positive environmental news from clean rivers to clean air at many places. Pollution has declined drastically and as a result, people are able to see distant things.

Social distancing will be maintained in lines for amenities, in restaurants, on rides and other facilities and sanitization and disinfection will be boosted, the company said in a news release.

While currently the flights are operated by state-owned carriers, Puri said private airlines may also join in during subsequent evacuation efforts.

Expecting many stranded non-resident Keralites to be evacuated from the Middle East stating Thursday onwards, the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) is gearing up with several safety measures!

The government also said that Air India will operate 64 flights from May 7 to May 13 to bring back around 15,000 Indian nationals stranded abroad amid the COVID-19-induced lockdown.

Good work team!' is how External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar termed India's biggest evacuation exercise on Thursday.