India suspends flight from UK until December 31

India said Monday it was joining other countries in temporarily suspending all flights from Britain after the emergence of a new and more infectious strain of coronavirus there.

“Considering the prevailing situation in UK. Govt. of India has decided that all flights originating from UK to India to be suspended till 31st December 2020,” the aviation ministry said in a tweet.

It said the suspension would come into effect from 11:59 pm (0629 GMT) on Tuesday.

It added that in a “measure of abundant precaution”, passengers arriving from Britain on transit flights would be subject to a mandatory RT-PCR test on arrival.

Britain is home to a huge Indian diaspora and there are several flights per day taking hundreds of people between London and New Delhi and London and Mumbai.

Earlier on Monday, Hong Kong said it would ban all flights from Britain following the discovery of a new and highly infectious strain of the coronavirus there.