FILE PHOTO: People queue up to have their temperature taken before entering the Ratchada Railway Night Market, which is reopening amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, after the Thai government eased isolation measures, in Bangkok, Thailand, May 15, 2020. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand on Saturday extended a ban on international passenger flights until the end of June, the country’s aviation regulator said, as new cases in the country dwindle.
The Civil Aviation Authority’s ban extends a previous order that was set to run until the end of May.
The announcement comes as the country begins to relax local restrictions after reporting single-digit increases of infections from the new coronavirus this month.
On Sunday the government will allow malls and department stores to re-open. It will also shorten a nighttime curfew by one hour, to 2300 to 0400, from 2200 to 0400.
The aviation regulator first introduced the suspension of international flights in April in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Thailand has reported a total of 3,025 cases of the coronavirus and 56 fatalities.
Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Sam Holmes and Christina Fincher