International commercial flights will resume from March 27, the government said on Tuesday. Foreign arrivals and departures will follow the standard operating procedures in Indian airports. Given a downward trajectory in Covid-19 cases, the civil aviation ministry has decided to resume scheduled international flights after a two-year-long break.
The MoCA announced that international operations will be subject to strict adherence to guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry on 10 February. It said that recognising the increased vaccination coverage across the globe and in consultation with stakeholders, the Government of India has decided to resume scheduled commercial international passenger services to/from India from 27.03.2022, i.e. start of summer schedule 2022. With this, the air bubble arrangements will only be extended to this point, MoCA added. The air bubble arrangement allowed two countries to operate flights into each other’s territories under certain conditions.
Since 23 March 2020, scheduled international flights have been suspended in India because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Air bubble arrangements have been in place between India and around 40 countries since July 2020.
COVID-19 infections in India reached 3,993 on Tuesday, bringing the total to 4,29,71,308. As per data from the Union Health Ministry, the number of active cases decreased to 49,948. A total of 5,15,210 deaths have been recorded as of now, with 108 further deaths.
