India to resume commercial intn”l passenger flights on Dec 15

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India has decided to resume commercial international passenger flights on December 15, the Civil Aviation Ministry said on Friday.

“The matter has been reviewed and the competent authority has decided to resume the scheduled commercial international passenger services to/from India with effect from 15th December 2021,” it said in a statement this evening.

According to the ministry statement, the decision would imply reversion to bilaterally agreed capacity entitlements and termination of air-bubble arrangements with some countries.

It said 14 countries designated by the Indian ministry of health affairs as ‘at risk’, and with whom there is an existing ‘air bubble’ agreement, would be allowed to resume 75 percent of pre-Covid operations (or a minimum of seven frequencies per week).

These 14 countries are – Bangladesh, the United Kingdom, Singapore, China, Brazil, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, and New Zealand. The list also includes South Africa, Botswana, Israel, and Hong Kong – which have confirmed cases of the new B.1.1.529 variant of the Coronavirus.

Countries designated as ‘at risk’ but without ‘air bubble’ agreements with India would be allowed to resume 50 percent of bilateral capacity entitlements, the Aviation Ministry said.

Against the backdrop of the spread of Covid-19, the scheduled international commercial passenger services to and from India were suspended from March 23 last year. The suspension has been extended from time to time and is still in force till November 30, 2021, the statement added.