NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Civil Aviation has suspended all flights from the UK to India till December 31 in the wake of the new mutant strain of novel coronavirus.

The suspension will start with effect from 23.59 hours on December 22, 2020.

Consequently, all flights from India to UK shall also stand temporarily suspended during the period, said a Ministry tweet.

“Considering the prevailing situation in the UK, the government of India has decided that all flights originating from UK to India to be suspended till December 31, 2020 (23.59 hours),” the tweet read.

It added that as a measure of abundant precaution, passengers arriving from the UK in all transit flights should be subjected to mandatory RT-PCR test on arrival at the airports in India.

India’s bar on passenger flights follows similar steps by several European countries on Sunday.