India Resumes All International Flights, Move May Bring Airfare Relief: 10 Points
New Delhi: Regular scheduled international flights started in India today after a halt of over two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the meantime, international flights had been operating in an “air bubble” arrangement with several nations.
Sixty foreign airlines of 40 countries including Mauritius, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, the US and Iraq, among others, can fly to India. This approval for regular international flights comes under the summer schedule, which will be from today till October 29.
However, experts have a word of caution on airfare drop expectations. “Ideally, airfare should go down, but we have this looming crisis (Ukraine war) in the world, which has caused oil prices to rise sharply,” aviation sector analyst Vinamra Longani told NDTV.
The Covid rules, which have been eased, also say cabin crew members no longer need to wear personal protective equipment, or PPE, kits, and security personnel at airports can resume pat-down search of passengers.
- IndiGo Airlines in a statement today said its international destinations include Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Jeddah, Riyadh, Doha and Bangkok, among others. “Scheduled operations on more than 150 routes will be restarted in a phased manner through April,” the airline said.
