As India recovers from the aftermath of COVID-19 and the world opens up to travel again, the government is in discussions with both domestic and international airlines and other countries to increase flights, under the air bubble agreements, in order to meet the rising demand from international passengers, senior officials told Moneycontrol.
Under an air bubble arrangement between two countries, international passenger flights can be operated by their respective carriers to each other's territories, subject to certain conditions.
While the government is open to the idea of increasing flights to destinations on a need-to-be basis, it is still unlikely to lift the restrictions on international flights soon, officials said.
The government is looking to increase flights to Dubai, Singapore, France, the UK, the US, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Germany and Australia in the next few weeks, officials said.
“There are constant discussions between the high commission of every country, and, wherever required, we are looking to increase flights under the air bubble agreements,” an official said. It usually takes the government a week to review and allocate flights under the agreement, he said.
“Re-opening international commercial flights is still a while away. We can surely consider opening once demand nears pre-COVID levels," officials said.
Tourist data, free visas
The government also plans to collect data of international passengers and corresponding COVID-19 cases after November 15 to determine if it is safe for commercial flights to open up as the threat of the third wave of COVID-19 is still at large.
"We have to ensure that our tourist hotspots are safe and we will collect data of foreign tourists arriving to ensure that no case of COVID-19 infection goes unattended," another official said.
Last month, the government announced granting free tourist visas to those travelling by chartered flights by October 15 and those by regular planes from November 15. The e-visa for India is available for citizens of 156 countries.
In June 2021, the Ministry of Finance had announced a scheme to offer free tourist visas for the first 5 lakh passenger till March 31, 2022.
Scheduled international passenger flights to and from India are suspended since March last year, amidst the pandemic. Currently, the suspension on scheduled international flights is till November 30 and the government is most likely to extend the date.
India has air bubble arrangements with more than 25 countries, including the US, the UK, Germany and Japan. The regulator had earlier said that scheduled international flights may be allowed on select routes on a case-to-case basis.
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