The Maharashtra government has not yet amended its May 19 lockdown order which allowed only certain kinds of flights, a Maharashtra CMO official on Saturday said.

This means that air travel in the state is still not allowed even after the Centre allowed resumption of domestic flight operations from May 25.

As per the May 19 order of the state government extending the coronavirus-induced lockdown to May 31, all domestic and international air travel, except for domestic medical services, domestic air ambulance and for security purposes as permitted by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), will continue to remain prohibited across the state.

"We have not yet amended this lockdown order issued on May 19," a Maharashtra CMO official told CNBC-TV18.

Separately, aviation ministry officials told CNBC-TV18 that the union government is in discussions with state governments on allowing flights. The efforts are ongoing to allow operations in a graded manner from May 25.

Meanwhile, airlines continue to take bookings even as clarity is expected to emerge on Sunday after discussions between the centre and states.

Earlier in the day, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, during a Facebook live session, said he was in talks with states who were anxious about restarting flights.

All scheduled commercial passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 25 when the lockdown was announced.

On May 20, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had announced that domestic civil aviation operations will recommence in a calibrated manner from May 25.

The ministry has also issued standard operating procedures for passenger movement.

Meanwhile, flyers continue to remain tense especially those who have already booked tickets. People took it to twitter seeking clarity from the CMO Maharashtra and the aviation ministry on the air travel in the state.

In Tamil Nadu, the chief secretary has gone on record to state that the state does not want to resume flight operations. However, no letter or official communication from state to centre has made it to the public domain. As of now, the state's stance is it does not want flight ops to resume till May 31.

What about people coming back to mumbai ? As flights are starting from 25 May , i want to travel to Mumbai from Bangalore. Tickets already booked for 26 May. Pleae clarify. @CMOMaharashtra @ANI

— Pranali Nagle (@PranaliNagle1) May 23, 2020

First Published:May 23, 2020 10:04 PM IST