The Indian government has signed an air bubble arrangement with Saudi Arabia, facilitating eligible passengers to fly between India and Saudi Arabia. The flights between the two countries will begin on January 1, 2022.
Air travel bubbles are being introduced as a temporary arrangement between two countries to restart commercial passenger services when regular international flights are suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
So far, India has an air bubble agreement with 35 countries, including Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tanzania, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates (UAE), United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA) and Uzbekistan.
As the Covid-19 cases are surging, India has suspended the scheduled international passenger flight operations till January 31.
Earlier, the centre had said they were working on creating air bubbles with ten more countries, including Switzerland and Saudi Arabia. Countries in this list included Kazakhstan, Australia, and Saudi Arabia.
Who all are eligible to fly on air bubble flights between India and Saudi Arabia?
From India to Saudi Arabia:
1. Nationals/residents of Saudi Arabia;
2. Indian nationals or nationals of Nepal or Bhutan holding a valid visa of Saudi Arabia and destined for Saudi Arabia only. There is no travel restriction for Indian/Nepalese/Bhutanese nationals to enter Saudi Arabia before the issue of ticket/boarding pass to the Indian/Nepalese /Bhutanese passenger.
From Saudi Arabia to India:
1. Indian nationals or nationals of Nepal or Bhutan in Saudi Arabia;
2. Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) cardholders and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) cardholders holding passports of any country.
3. Saudi Arabian nationals (including diplomats) hold a valid Indian visa as extant guidelines.
