According to India’s Civil Aviation Ministry, the “matter has been reviewed, and the competent authority” has decided to resume international flights on December 15th, subject to certain conditions (to and from India).
The ministers of Home Affairs, External Affairs, and Health have been consulted about the resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services to and from India, which could begin on December 15, according to the ministry.
According to the Aviation Ministry, flights to 14 countries designated as “at risk” by the Health Ministry will be allowed to resume 75 percent of pre-Covid operations (or a minimum of seven frequencies per week)
The United Kingdom, Singapore, China, Brazil, Bangladesh, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, and New Zealand are among the 14 countries. South Africa, Botswana, Israel, and Hong Kong have all confirmed the new B.1.1.529 coronavirus variant.
The Aviation Ministry says that in countries that have been designated as “at risk,” but do not have bilateral “air bubble” agreements with India, 50 percent of bilateral capacity entitlements may be resumed.
International passenger flights in India can resume their regular schedules
Apart from those providing repatriation services and transporting essential goods, planned international flights have been halted since March of last year due to the Covid lockdown.
International “air bubble” agreements allowed restrictions to be gradually eased over time as the number of cases decreased and vaccination coverage increased.
This new variant was associated with an alarmingly high number of mutations (50), including more than 30 on the virus’s spike protein.
Scientists are still attempting to determine whether this new strain is more contagious or lethal than previous iterations.
Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister of Civil Aviation, stated last week that the government was considering the process of normalizing international flight operations. According to him, the government will take all necessary precautions to prevent an infection outbreak, particularly in light of recent increases in infections in other European countries.
