With the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic increasing its prevalence in India, many countries imposed an international travel ban on flights to and from India, mid April onward.
You can find the complete list of countries imposing travel restrictions from India here.
These travel restrictions included total ban on flights, flight cancellations and imposition of strict quarantine rules, while some countries like the United Kingdom put India on a Red List, along with eight other countries.
However, in a positive news, European countries like the Netherlands and Germany have reinstated their flight services to India , with Netherlands becoming the first country to lift the international travel ban on passenger travel flights from India.
Netherlands Breaking the Travel Ban Chain
On April 26, 2021, the Dutch government banned Indian passenger flights from entering into the Netherlands, amid the increasing cases of the second wave of Covid-19 in India.
However, the Netherlands has announced lifting the travel ban on India from June 1, 2021.
The Indian Embassy in the Netherlands tweeted, “”As per the Dutch Government ban on passenger flights from India that had come into force on April 26, 2021, has been lifted w.e.f 01 June 2021.”
Additionally, the Netherlands government website reads, “As of 1 June 2021, there is no longer a ban on flights from India, South Africa and the countries in Central and South America.”
There is still a European Union ban on non-EU travelers from countries where the coronavirus situation is considered very high risk. A number of people are exempted from this ban, including family members of EU residents, students, and business travelers, states ETNow.
Furthermore, the Dutch carrier KLM operated flights between Bengaluru and Amsterdam on Wednesday, while Germany too has resumed flights to India.
The German airline Lufthansa has informed that it will resume international flights to India and in June, it will operate about ten weekly flights to three Indian cities, including Bengaluru.
The mandatory travel quarantine for people arriving into the Netherlands from an area designated as a high-risk for coronavirus infection entered into force on Tuesday.
The travelers from such countries will have to mandatorily quarantine themselves at their desired location for 10 days after arriving in the Netherlands. The law states that passengers testing negative for the coronavirus infection after five days of their quarantine period will be allowed to no longer continue their remaining 5 days of quarantine.
Quarantine is mandatory for people arriving from these high-risk countries such as Argentina, Bahrain, Brazil, India, South Africa amongst others.
Another wire feed informs that with the number of Covid-19 infections coming down in India, the UK’s Heathrow Airport (in London) has opened a dedicated terminal for arrivals from red list countries.
In the US too, the Bengaluru-San Francisco route is likely to restart in June.
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