The Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Thursday that an Indian carrier operating a repatriation flight from the United Arab Emirates will be allowed to carry. Similarly, a UAE carrier will carry passengers on the first leg of the charter flight to India.
Amid rising coronavirus cases in India, uncertainty over the resumption of international flights continues. However, India and the UAE have agreed to allow their airlines to carry passengers on both legs of their charter flights between the two countries to be operated from July 12 to July 26.
The aviation regulator DGCA has extended the suspension of scheduled international passenger flights in the country till July 31. India suspended all scheduled international passenger flights on March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Thursday that an Indian carrier operating a repatriation flight from the United Arab Emirates will be allowed to carry. Similarly, a UAE carrier will carry passengers on the first leg of the charter flight to India.
"As part of the close strategic partnership between the Govts of India & UAE, and with a view to assisting UAE residents who are presently in India to return to UAE, the Civil Aviation Authorities of both countries have agreed to operationalise a special arrangement," Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said.
"Indian carriers operating repatriation flights & UAE carriers operating charter flights to bring Indian citizens from UAE to India can now carry ICA approved UAE residents from India to UAE. This arrangement will be in place for a period of 15 days from 12-26 July, 2020," he said.
Following the announcement, Air India Express CEO K Shyam Sundar said on Twitter, "Happy to announce Air India Express has opened its flights between 12th and 26th July from India to UAE for sale to Indians with UAE Resident Permits."
This comes even as international flights to and from India remain suspended barring special services.
While governments across the world may be wary of resuming international travel, a survey has revealed that most travellers feel comfortable planning their travel within the next six months. Around 65% of the 6,000 travellers who took part in a survey by Vistara said felt comfortable planning their travel even as the coronavirus pandemic rages on.
The survey included Club Vistara members from all tier levels as well as non-members.
It revealed that the reason for travel of 35% of respondents would be business. Only 25% of the respondents expected to travel to visit friends and relatives.
68% respondents on the domestic sector and 74% on the international sector indicated that they are either likely to maintain the frequency of their business travel as they did in the previous year or take more flights. Remaining said they will reduce the trips as compared to 2019.
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 "File Photo:Air India Express has opened its flights between 12th and 26th July from India to UAE")
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