International Flights Will Resume Only After Vaccination Is Confirmed; How Much More Delay?

A lot of speculations about resumption of  international and domestic flights have been in news and views, since domestic and international flights have been halted in the country, as of March 23.

We have been constantly updating you about any news revolving around a possible timeline of international passenger flights to resume.

Mid of July 2020, we reported Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri’s addressal to the media, stating the possibility of international flights to resume services from mid-August.

However, its safe to say that did not happen, due to increasing number of Covid cases across the country.

The Civil Aviation Minister has once again given a hint about future resumption of international passenger flights and this time it is believed to not resume until March-April 2021.

International Passenger Flights to Remain Halted Until March-April 2021

International passenger flights in India have been put a hold on, since March 23, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, there have been special bilateral flights been operating in the country, with around 16 countries.

We will shed some more light on bilateral flights further in the article.

Puri also addressed in a press meeting a few days back that the resumption of normal international flights in the country will depend a lot on the availability of a vaccine against COVID-19.

How Long Can Bilateral Air Bubbles be Expected?

Again, in the aforementioned article released in July, we informed that the Civil Aviation Ministry has been focussing upon starting two way flights, termed as ‘Bilateral Bubbles’ or negotiations with countries like the US, France, Germany to open green corridors.

Currently, India has established ‘bilateral bubbles’ flights with 16 countries, including Germany and UAE.

Puri has also added that such an international travel under the air bubble arrangement is expected to continue at least until March-April 2021, or until a vaccine is available.