SpiceJet has announced that it was "forced" to suspend majority of its international flight operations from Saturday till the end of the next month due to the "unprecedented situation" arising over the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Major airlines across the world have been curtailing their flight operations drastically as the aviation industry has been hit hard after many countries, including India, have partially sealed their borders amid the outbreak of the deadly COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019).

"In view of the unprecedented situation arising due to COVID-19, SpiceJet is forced to temporarily suspend majority of its international operations from 21st March till 30th April, 2020," a SpiceJet spokesperson stated on Thursday. "We will resume the suspended flights as soon as the situation normalises."

The spokesperson, however, said the airline's Kolkata-Dhaka flight would continue to operate as per schedule.

"Our Chennai-Colombo flight will restart from the 25th March, 2020, while our Delhi-Dubai and Mumbai-Dubai flights will resume from 16th April, 2020," the official added.