India is likely to resume regular international flights towards the end of the year, Civil Aviation Ministry announced on Wednesday.
Rajiv Bansal, Secretary of Ministry of Civil Aviation, made it clear that regular international flight operations are likely to resume soon.
Scheduled international passenger flights to and from India were suspended in March 2020 due to the covid-19 pandemic. The government recently extended the suspension till November 30, 2021. The restrictions are not applied to the international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by DGCA.
India has formed an “air bubble” with separate countries and special flights have been allowed under this. According to the arrangements between two countries under an “air bubble”, their respective carriers can operate international passenger flights into each other’s territories subject to certain conditions.
India has existing air-bubble pacts with around 28 countries. The US, the UK, the UAE, Kenya, Bhutan and France are among these countries.
As per the guidelines by the central government, which had come in October, airlines are allowed to operate domestic flights without any capacity restriction.
The Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia recently said that the government is keen to resume normal international travel operations but in a safe environment.
“We are evaluating the process. We are coming back to normalcy. First we allowed 100% passenger capacity in our domestic flights and now we allowed in-flight meals in those flights,” Scindia said at the Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII’s) Global Economy Policy Summit.
“We want to resume international operations but in a safe environment,” Scindia said. “Despite vaccinations, countries like Russia and parts of Europe are fighting the fourth wave of the pandemic. Hence, we cannot let our guard down.”
“Let’s not erase our memories so soon, getting infected with the covid-19 virus is the worst thing possible.”
He added that the decision to resume international flights would be made not by the ministry of civil aviation alone but by other ministries as well.
