On March 27, international flight operations in India will restart; during the summer timetable, 60 airlines from 40 countries will be permitted to operate 1,783 frequencies to and from India.
The Central Government had ceased flight operations on March 23, 2020, due to the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
Later, through bilateral air bubble agreements with many countries, foreign flights became operational.
After nearly two years, India restarted international flight operations on Sunday. Due to the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic into the country, the Central government banned flight operations on March 23, 2020.
In July 2020, international flights began operating under bilateral air bubble agreements with a number of countries. However, in the midst of a pandemic, the prohibition on regular international airline operations lasted over two years. Regular international air operations have now resumed as of March 27.
According to the DGCA, 60 airlines from 40 countries have been given permission to operate 1,783 frequencies to and from India during the summer timetable. From March 27 through October 29, the summer schedule will be in force.
For the summer schedule, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has cleared a total of 1,466 international departures for six Indian carriers. The airlines will fly to 43 different locations in 27 different countries. Moreover, a number of international airlines, including Emirates, Virgin Atlantic, and LOT Polish have also announced plans to expand their India flights.
In the first week of April, the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in the national capital, which is also the country’s largest airport, expects a major increase in international aircraft departures. During the pre-Covid era, IGIA handled roughly 1.8 lakh passengers every day.
Emirates (which has the largest operations in India) will conduct 170 flights per week among the international carriers. There will be 140 flights operated by Air Arabia. United Airlines and American Airlines, both based in the United States, will operate 28 and 7 flights per week, respectively.
European airlines, on the other hand, such as British Airways will operate 49 flights, Lufthansa will operate 32 flights, and Air France will fly a total of 20 flights per week.
Sri Lanka Airlines will operate 128 weekly flights, Oman Air 115 weekly flights, Singapore Airlines 65 weekly flights, and Malaysia Airlines 30 weekly flights. Thai Airways and Thai Smile, both based in Thailand, will operate 36 and 21 flights per week, respectively.
The government has also changed the Covid criteria for international aircraft operations, removing the necessity to maintain three seats empty on international flights in case of medical crises.
Furthermore, the necessity that the personnel has complete PPE gear has been eliminated.