The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had issued a circular late on Sunday evening directing all airlines "to refrain from booking tickets" after May 4.
Further, the airlines were told that they will be given sufficient notice and time for restarting operations. "This is for strict compliance by all airlines," the circular said.
Initially,the airlines declined to follow the order and asked for greater clarity on whenthey will be allowed to reopen bookings. But after some time, thedomestic airlines decided to follow the latest DGCA order. What prompted thischange in thinking in the airlines was not immediately clear.
Eventually, most airlines starting with IndiGo decided to implement the circular. IndiGo decided to shut bookings till May 31 thereby ending all speculations on whether the government order will be flouted again or not.
The issue of taking bookings andoperating flights came to the forefront as the government decided to implementan all India lockdown which was initially till midnight April 14.
Some domestic airlines started taking bookings post-April 15. Eventually, the Ministry of Civil Aviation directed them not to take any bookings till May 4 and refund the money of the passengers who had booked tickets post-April 15. The Ministry said that there should be no bookings till May 4 as the all India lockdown had been extended till midnight May 3.
