India resumes flights to 18 countries under Air Bubble Agreement this month

The wait’s over. Starting this month, Indians will finally get to fly to 49 cities under Air Bubble arrangements with 18 countries. According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s latest notification, special international flights can be operated by respective airlines under an air-bubble pact between two countries. 

The bummer is that the schedule of these flights is only charted till the end of September due to the pandemic. 

What is a transport bubble?

According to the official website, “Transport Bubbles” or “Air Travel Arrangements” are temporary arrangements between two countries aimed at restarting commercial passenger services when regular international flights are suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. They are reciprocal in nature, meaning airlines from both countries enjoy similar benefits.”

As per the official notice, India has sealed the air-bubble pact with at least 18 countries including the United Kingdom, France, Kenya, the United States, Bhutan and the United Arab Emirates. So, if one plans to travel, they can look through the list and find out if their destination country is in the list. 

Furthermore, all the bookings are advised to be done on the Air India website, travel agents and Air India offices. Following is the list of international cities you can travel in September: Canada-Toronto and Vancouver, Bangladesh-Dhaka, Afghanistan-Kabul, Bahrain-Bahrain, Germany-Frankfurt, Japan-Narita, Russia-Moscow, France-Paris, Sri Lanka-Colombo, UK-London and Birmingham, Nepal-Kathmandu, Kenya-Nairobi, Kuwait-Kuwait, UAE-Dubai and Abu Dhabi, USA-Chicago, Washington, Newark, and San Francisco, Maldives-Male and Oman-Muscat.

Air travel with Bangladesh was resumed on September 3 under the Air-Bubble Agreement.

Indian airports and airlines bore the brunt of the pandemic by experiencing a major financial loss worth Rs 22,400 crore in the 2021 financial year. It was primarily due to the suspension of flights on March 23. 

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A loss of Rs 2,976.17 crore during April-June 2019 to approximately Rs 889 crore during April-June 2021 was reported by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), as per the ministry. 

While domestic flights were given a go ahead in May 2020, international flights have started operating only under the Vande Bharat mission and Air Bubble agreements.