After a 4-month-long break, India will start allowing international flights starting today.
India has reportedly formed individual bilateral deals termed as ‘travel bubbles’ with France, Germany, and the United States.
This ‘travel bubble’ deal will help airlines of these nations, involved in the pact, to operate international flight operations.
The list of operating flights include:
Air India will be operating flights to France, Germany, and the US.
Air France will be operating 28 flights between Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Paris between Jul 18- Aug 1, 2020.
American carrier United Airlines will be operating 18 flights between India and the US from July 17-31,2020.
Besides, the discussions for a similar deal with the United Kingdom are underway, They informed the Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri in a press meet.
“Talk of an air bubble in an advanced stage with the UK,” the minister informed.
If everything goes as planned, two flights will be operating between India and London per day.
“We have got a request from Germans also. I think the arrangement with Lufthansa is almost done…We are processing that request,” Puri added.
Earlier this week, the Indian Government announced an air bubble with UAE, with operations running between July 12-26, 2020.
“Now we have many demands for air bubbles, but we need to be careful. We should permit that many only that we can handle,” the minister informed.
Travel bubble, also known as travel corridors or corona corridors, is an exclusive partnership among countries that have shown considerable progress in containing the COVID-19 spread.
Regarding Domestic Flights
The government expects at least 55-60 percent of pre-COVID domestic flights to be running in the country by the coming Diwali.
Earlier, the government had thought of operating 33 percent of domestic flights by July 15, 2020. But that did not happen.
States like Maharashtra have reportedly placed restrictions on the number of flights that their airports can handle per day.
