After two years, India to resume regular international flights from March 27

After two years, India will resume regular international flight operations from March 27. International operations shall be subject to strict adherence to Ministry of Health guidelines for international travel, the Civil Aviation Ministry said.

On February 28, the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had extended the ban on regular commercial international passenger flights until further orders.

India has been operating flights under air bubble arrangements since 2021.

India has air transport bubbles with Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tanzania, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, US and Uzbekistan.

The Indian government had previously planned to resume scheduled international flight operations from December 15 onwards. But this plan was derailed due to the emergence of Omicron which lead to the government withdrawing the decision to resume scheduled international flights.

International flights were first suspended in March 2020 after a nationwide lockdown was imposed to tackle the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic.