International Travel in India – Flights Resume to Pre Covid Times

India has opened its international borders welcoming travelers from all around the globe. The decision has seen its fair share of ups and downs since it was initially postponed indefinitely due to the Omicron outbreak. Let’s have a recap of all the important things that have happened in the last two years. Afterward, we shall see the new changes in the industry that will affect the ticket price from USA to India.

The Indian government banned scheduled flights on 23 March 2020. After the initial ban was lifted later in 2020 only special cargo flights were operational. Later, as the pandemic situation started approving a special bubble agreement pact was made with different nations allowing people to travel internationally under strict restrictions. 

As the situation improved in 2021 with the thorough circulation of vaccines and huge declines in corona cases, the Civil Aviation Ministry decided to start the scheduled flights on 15 December 2021. The decision had to be rescinded due to the spread of the Omicron variant which posed a more serious threat than the Delta variant.
The Civil Aviation Ministry created a special list of “At-Risk” nations to counter this new threat. And the strict regulations for international arrivals in India were changed to suit the need of the hour. 

People saw a ray of hope in February 2022 when the ministry decided to do away with the list of “At-Risk” nations. The second big change was the ease of regulations for foreigners coming to India. And last but not least, the domestic flights’ operation percentage was on a steady incline giving hope to people for easy international travels in the future. 

The continuous talks between the Civil Aviation Ministry and the Health Ministry kept people wondering about the decision on the future of indefinitely banned scheduled flights. On March 8, 2022, the government’s decision was highlighted everywhere. After a long two years break, the scheduled flights can operate normally from 27 March 2022. The decrease in the number of cases also helped in strengthening this decision and boosting people’s morale for a fun vacation journey abroad. Flyopedia is always here for you with the latest travel information. Scroll down to see the new changes that you can see in the airline industry.

Recent Changes

People can expect to see a serious jump in April with many Indian carriers like Air India preparing for journeys abroad. Other than Indian carriers, major carriers from different countries like Emirates, Virgin Atlantic, and LOT Polish have already announced their plans for running services to and from India

DGCA, the regulatory body for Civil Aviation in India, has said that 60 airlines from 40 countries are permitted to operate 1,783 flights this summer season in India. As for Indian carriers, the ministry has approved 1,466 international departures per week. The carriers will be running flights to 43 destinations in 23 nations. All the airlines have also received revised guidelines in which the PPE kit is being done away with and the three vacant seats for medical emergencies are no longer required. 

IndiGo, the largest airline in India, said that it will be resuming flights to 150 plus destinations gradually during the next month. They said that though they are ready to get the operations back to pre covid times, the international guidelines of host countries will also play a role. 

Emirates, the Gulf carrier giant said that it will be introducing and operating the flights to pre covid routes at the same frequency starting from 11 April. It was operating 170 weekly flights to nine destinations, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata prior to the pandemic.

These are the major changes that will be happening soon. The resumption of flights is an action well appreciated by the people as it has made it easy to look for affordable flight tickets to India. If you are planning to visit India this summer season then book your tickets in advance. You can reach out to Flyopedia at 1-866-575-4903 for more.

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