Regular International Flights Likely To Resume In India By March-End

Posted on Mar 1st, 2022 by Heena Ganotra, Last updated on Aug 24th, 2022

Since the standard rules for international flights have been suspended in March 2020, an anonymous government official has shared a few insiders claiming the international air travel to India shall be resumed to old travel regulations within the next month.

The reports suggest that the aviation department along with the officials from the health department have had several meetings regarding the same. The results are apparently inclined towards considering an anticipated date, which could be March 15th or at the final day of March for resuming the regular international air travel routine as previously. This is when the summer schedule is scheduled to be released.

Concluding Considerations

Apparently, the Covid-19 cases continue to show a constant decreasing trend, and the government has decided to return to a regular flight schedule to international destinations. The news team confirms that Government officials have shared the report. 

Yes! The health department has released revised guidelines for foreign arrivals starting on February 14th. They will no longer be able to comply with the seven-day mandatory quarantine at home and the requirement for travellers to take RT-PCR testing on day 8.

News Agency’s Update

The news agency said that the standard operating procedures in place in Indian airports for foreign departures and arrivals would be adhered to following the return of flights. Therefore, the necessity of providing samples at the point of arrival and waiting until the results are obtained from countries considered to be at-risk are no longer required.

“Regular International flights are likely to resume from March 15th. The Guidelines for International Arrivals, which came into effect from February 14th, will be followed at airports for the passengers of these flights,” an official source was quoted as saying.

But there has been no official announcement issued from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation at this point.

No More Travelling Boundations

Previous years have faced massive air travel cancellation due to the Covid travelling restrictions. The observable depletion in the covid cases is enabling the aviation industry to resume to its normal operations.

It’s a huge relief for travellers worldwide since the loosening of international standards concerning testing, quarantine, and other protocols following the release of Omicron has increased the need for travellers to return.

The ban on scheduled passenger flights to India will remain in place until February 28th, and the flights are temporarily suspended in India from March 23rd, 2020, because of the coronavirus pandemic. In simpler words, the demarcation of countries “at-risk” and other countries have been eliminated. For more information on this, you can read our blog on – No Rt-PCR test needed for international travel to India. 

About the Air Bubble

We were informed earlier that India was planning that it would schedule its flights with other countries as “special flights for passengers. “special flights for passengers.” In July of 2020, the agreement between India along with the other 40 countries was thought to be the “air bubble” agreement. But, due to the reality that there are fewer flights in this bubble, the cost of flights has increased significantly over the duration of summer.

As a matter of fact, special passenger flights have been operating between India and more than 40 nations since July 2020 as part of arrangements for air bubbles.

• An ex-banker from Delhi, Richa Gupta, is looking to book tickets for flights to an out of the country this summer to be able to stay with her young son, who studies in Boston. “The rates currently are 1.07 lakh for a return flight on the American airline’s economy. In January of last year, we booked this flight for a return flight of Rs 60,000. In December, our son flew from Delhi and then back for the sum of Rs 1.6 lakh, when Omicron had reached its highest. The situation is improving; it should reflect in the prices as well,” the lady said.
• “Announcing the dates of reopening will let airlines gradually include more flights on the reservation system. After that, an increase in supply will result in lower prices,” Richa continued to say.
• Anil Kalsi, a leading travel agent located in Delhi, has said, “With India removing the Covid-related tests and quarantine limitations and quarantine restrictions, there has been a significant increase of reservations coming from foreign countries, especially Canada. Prices have increased by up to 50 percent. In the short term, seats are being sold at prices of up to 1 lakh rupees. 1.2 lakh for the economy class.”

Current Air Travelling Vs Previous Air Travelling

Amidst restrictions, travelling internationally had become a tedious task. As a result, certain regions in Canada have seen their value much higher in the market than it usually does. This is an excellent instance of a market that is experiencing a massive increase in airfare prices because of the low demand caused by the lifting of restrictions.

In the past, international flights scheduled on March 23rd, 2020, were abruptly cancelled. Earlier, the routine flight scheduling was being planned to resume gradually on December 15th, 2021. 

However, due to the sudden Omicron cases expansion, the process was further delayed until the circumstances fell under control. The travel industry is hoping India will resume routine flights following a deal to acknowledge each other’s vaccine certificates without delay.

Airlines’ Say & Prediction

“We believed this would happen in the months of August and September after the Delta variant was at its lowest. But the delay was to the point that by the time it was due to occur, Omicron had set in. It is important to not be losing this window,” an airline official explained.

Analysing the whole situation, the announcement of December 15th’s opening up has led to the affected nations being divided into three separate groups. The announcement was made to set the stage for an incremental but steady return to normal. The expected outcomes of this scenario are believed to fall within the range of 100 percent of the threshold pre-Covid between 50% and 100%, based on whether a nation is at risk of becoming affected or not.

India Travel Latest Guidelines

• Effective February 14th, 2022, India eliminated the ‘at-risk’ classification from travel restrictions/regulations. It was replaced by the list of countries or regions in which travellers who have had their vaccines completed are able to travel without prior tests.
• The requirement for a seven-day quarantine in the home for each during the seven days and the requirement to have tests for RT-PCR on the 8th of each day was also eliminated.

In addition to uploading a negative report of RT-PCR taken at least 72 hours prior to departure, there is the option of uploading certification of having completed the complete initial Covid vaccination schedule provided by countries that have reciprocity agreements.

Once the regulations are relaxed on the next step, which can’t be merely envisioned but an intelligent choice to take at the right time is to return to regular flights. This could be happening in the near term.

Have you found this article of advice helpful? Stay tuned with us for more. MyTicketsToIndia as a reputed travel agency is determined to help customers with their flight questions and reservations. All you need to do is talk to our travel experts via live chat feature or call our +1-844-542-1818 number. You can rest assured that our team will be able to deal with any questions you have with Canada to India flight bookings or otherwise. 

About Heena View All Posts

A writer by both passion and profession, Heena Ganotra is "half agony, half hope" but all heart. And oh, she has been a book lover from the start! Her love for books is what convinced her to make a career in the wonderful world of words. She loves what she does and is out-and-out a satisfied soul with a wish to spread happiness like herpes. Insight- Some say she is living the best life anyone could because she reads, writes, travels, and makes merry. They’re right because what else does one really need! 🙂