India planning bilateral air bubble flights with 13 nations

Due to the Covid pandemic, international flights were cancelled. India has not fully restarted operations of its flights to international destinations. On Tuesday, civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri stated that India is negotiating with 13 countries to establish bilateral air bubble arrangements for its international flight operations.

Air bubbles are temporary flight arrangements made between two countries aimed at restarting commercial passenger services when regular international flights are suspended.

Air bubbles have been proposed with neighboring countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan. Apart from that, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Italy, Nigeria, Russia, Kenya, Israel, Philippines and Singapore are also on the list.

In July, air bubbles were established between countries like UAE, France, UK, USA and Germany and Maldives.

Reportedly, there are many Indians still stranded in parts of the world. Since the ticket fare for ‘Vande Bharat’ mission is high, many have been unable to book them to reach back home.

Operations of all international and domestic flights in India were cancelled before the nationwide lockdown on 23 March as a measure to control spread of Covid. In May, the ‘Vande Bharat’ mission began.

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