- Tuesday, April 23, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA will resume scheduled international flights from December 15 after a coronavirus-induced suspension that lasted almost 21 months, the country’s civil aviation ministry said on Friday (25).
However, 14 countries have been barred and they are the UK, France, Germany, Finland, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Mauritius, Singapore and Zimbabwe, Indian daily Hindustan Times cited sources as saying.
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In a statement, the ministry said the issue of resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services has been examined in consultation with three ministries of the Indian government – home affairs, external affairs and health and family welfare. The current Covid situation was kept in mind while taking the decision, especially the emergence of the new variants.
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“The matter of resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services to and from India has been examined in consultation with the ministry of home affairs, the ministry of external affairs and the ministry of health and family welfare and it has been decided that scheduled commercial international passenger services to and from India may be resumed from December 15, 2021,” the statement read.
The announcement comes two days after the civil aviation secretary Rajiv Bansal said international flight operations are expected to return to normalcy soon, “by the end of this year”.
Scheduled international flights have remained suspended in India since March 23 last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The suspension was extended till November end, exempting dedicated cargo flights and commercial flights that come under air-bubble arrangements with the destination nations.
Special international passenger flights have been in operation since July 2020 under air-bubble arrangements formed with nearly 28 nations.
Last month, India had announced opening its borders to fully vaccinated foreign tourists. However, those who planned to visit the country on scheduled commercial flights were asked to wait till November 15.
In a statement, the home ministry said, “Foreign tourists entering into India by flights other than chartered aircraft would be able to do so only with effect from November 15, on fresh Tourist Visas.”
