NEW DELHI — As part of the Air-bubble agreement, the flight operations between India and Bangladesh are set to resume after four months of suspension due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation informed that the operations will be resumed from Sept. 3, 2021.
“The air bubble may be resumed with effect from Sept. 3 till resumption of scheduled international passenger flights,” states the letter from the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Before announcing the operation of flights, the Indian government has imposed several restrictions for flights with limited passengers and strict health protocols.
“Passengers traveling from Bangladesh to India shall be mandatorily subjected to self-paid confirmatory molecular tests on arrival at the Indian airports concerned (port of entry),” the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.
“Therefore, instead of a blanket restriction of 140 passengers per aircraft, it is proposed that the capacity may be restricted to a specific percentage of the installed seat capacity of the aircraft (say 90 percent or 95 percent).”
Flights under the air bubble will start with seven frequencies per week for any country carrier.
“This Ministry has examined the proposal in consultation with the health authorities of India and would like to propose resumption of operations under the Air Bubble with 7 frequencies per week (for carriers of either country),” the Indian aviation ministry said.
However, travelers holding tourist visas will not be allowed to travel to India.
“Government of India would be applicable to such passengers, as amended from time to time. It may be noted that passengers holding tourist visas are not allowed to enter India as on date,” said the Ministry of Civil Aviation Letter.
Amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the Director-General of Civil Aviation on Aug. 29 extended the suspension on scheduled international commercial passenger flights until Sept. 30, 2021, said a circular by the Director-General of Civil Aviation.
However, international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on case to case basis.
The circular further said that this restriction shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights approved explicitly by the Director-General of Civil Aviation.
“In a partial modification on a circular dated June 26, 2021, the competent authority has further extended the validity of the circular issued on the subject cited above regarding Scheduled International commercial passenger service to/from India till 2359 hrs IST of Sept. 30, 2021,” states the Director-General of Civil Aviation circular.
“This restriction shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by Director-General of Civil Aviation. However, International Scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on case to case basis.”
Earlier, the scheduled international flights were suspended until Aug. 31, said the circular issued by the Director-General of Civil Aviation on July 30, 2021.
(With inputs from ANI)
Edited by Saptak Datta and Ritaban Misra
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