IndiGo resumes flights between India and Singapore under air-bubble agreement

As part of the air bubble agreement, IndiGo will operate flights from November 29 with a total of 3,618 seats per week, the airline said in a press release.

Moneycontrol News

November 24, 2021 / 20:02 IST

Applications for vaccinated travel passes for short-term visitors and long-term pass holders from India will start on November 29.

InterGlobe Aviation-run IndiGo airline on November 24 announced the resumption of flights between Singapore and India, after the two countries entered into an agreement to operate flights under an air bubble.

Singapore has reached an agreement with India's Ministry of Civil Aviation on the resumption of scheduled commercial passenger flights.

As part of the air bubble agreement, IndiGo will operate flights from November 29 with a total of 3,618 seats per week, the airline said in a press release.

According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation's website,"'Transport Bubbles' or 'Air Travel Arrangements' are temporary arrangements between two countries aimed at restarting commercial passenger services when regular international flights are suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. They are reciprocal in nature, meaning airlines from both countries enjoy similar benefits." The other countries with which India has a similar agreement include Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bhutan, Canada, France, Germany and Kenya.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

Show