All scheduled commercial passenger flights suspended till May 31 midnight

Hours after the Modi government announced extension of the coronavirus lockdown, Indian aviation regulator DGCA said all scheduled commercial passenger flights have been suspended till May 31 midnight.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said "foreign and domestic airlines shall be suitably informed about the opening of their operations whether international to or from India or domestic, respectively, in due course".

All commercial passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 25, when the lockdown was imposed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The regulator on Sunday said the suspension of all domestic and international scheduled commercial passenger flights have been "further extended up to 11.59 PM on May 31".

This restriction would not be applicable to domestic and international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by the DGCA, it said.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the nodal department, has announced lockdown 4.0 till May 31 to check the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 2,872 and the number of total positive cases climbed to 90,927 Sunday morning, according to the Union health ministry.