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The domestic flight operations across the country, with notable exceptions of Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, are all set to begin from Monday, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in a tweet on Sunday evening. While domestic flights will start plying in and out of Andhra Pradesh from May 26 (Tuesday), the domestic aviation sector in cyclone-ravaged West Bengal will resume from May 28.
"It has been a long day of hard negotiations with various state govts to recommence civil aviation ops. Except Andhra Pradesh which will start on 26 May & West Bengal on 28 May, domestic flights will recommence across the country from tomorrow (sic)," Puri said in his tweet.
"Starting tomorrow, there will be limited flights from Mumbai & as per approved 1/3 schedule from other airports in the state. Limited operations to West Bengal will commence on 28th May," the minister said in another tweet.
The Maharashtra government, in an early evening order, decided to allow 25 incoming and outgoing flights from Mumbai from Monday, after apprehensions over the move were initially expressed by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray during his video address earlier in the day.
The West Bengal administration reasoned earlier in the day that the local machinery was involved in relief and restoration work caused by Cyclone Amphan, due to which re-starting flights from the Kolkata Airport looked like a difficult proposition for the time being. The authorities requested that the date of the re-start of domestic flights thus be deferred by three days.
