Airlines are not permitted to serve meals on flights that have a duration of less than two hours, the Civil Aviation Ministry said on Monday, as coronavirus cases continue to soar in the country. The ban will come into effect from Thursday, the ministry said in its order.

When scheduled domestic flights were resumed on May 25 after coronavirus lockdown last year, the ministry had allowed the airlines to serve in-flight meals under certain conditions.

Modifying the previous order, the ministry’s fresh directive said: ”The airlines, operating flights on domestic sectors, may provide meals services on board, where the in-flight duration is two hours or more.”

The ministry stated it has decided to review the on-board meal services in domestic flights considering ”the increasing threat of COVID-19 and its variants”.