Previously, only Air India had permission to operate flights in India-US routes.
Indian airline SpiceJet announced on Thursday that it has been designated as a scheduled carrier to operate flights between India and the US.
"This is to inform you that in terms of the Air Services Agreement between the Government of India and the Government of the United States of America, SpiceJet has been designated as Indian scheduled carrier to operate on agreed services between India and the USA," the company said in a statement.
Previously, only Air India had permission to operate flights in India-US routes. With this move, SpiceJet has become the first Indian private carrier to operate flights to the US.
“It gives me immense pleasure to share that SpiceJet has been designated as an Indian scheduled carrier to operate between India and the US. This designation would help us plan for our international expansion in a much better and calibrated manner. I have always maintained that there is an opportunity in every adversity and the present crisis situation has seen SpiceJet rise to the occasion and play a pivotal role. From operating over 4300 cargo flights to carrying over 24,000 tons of cargo to operating over 400 charter flights to bring back thousands of stranded Indian nationals back home, SpiceJet has worked non-stop and contributed in whatever manner possible, ” Ajay Singh, Chairman & Managing Director, SpiceJet said.
Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said last week that international flights can resume through bilateral air bubbles between countries till the situation returns to normalcy.
Puri informed that under the bilateral air bubble arrangement with France, Air France will be operating 28 flights from Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru to Paris between July 18 to August 1.
In the case of the United States, the minister said, there is an interim agreement with United Airlines to operate 18 flights between India-US between July 17 and July 31.
Puri further informed that an agreement with Lufthansa is almost complete to conduct flights between India and Germany.
India had suspended all international flights in March before it imposed a nationwide lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus. It, however, has been operating special flights under the Vande Bharat Mission to repatriate Indian citizens stuck across various countries.
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