Travellers rejoice! India resumes international flights after two years

India resumes regular international flights from today. A total of 60 foreign airlines of 40 countries including Mauritius, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, the United States of America, Iraq and others have been given the approval to operate 1783 frequencies to/from India during Summer Schedule 2022.

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As per an order issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), nearly after two years of the pandemic India is all set to resume regular international flights from today (March 27). 

The order said that Scheduled Foreign Carriers have applied for approval of their international schedule. The Summer Schedule 2022 is effective from March 27, 2022, till October 29 this year.

A total of 60 foreign airlines of 40 countries including Mauritius, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, the United States of America, Iraq and others have been given the approval to operate 1783 frequencies to/from India during Summer Schedule 2022. 

A total of 1,466 international departures per week have been approved for six Indian carriers for the summer schedule. They will operate to 43 destinations in 27 countries, as per the DGCA.

However, there are a few new airlines which include India Salam Air, Air Arabia Abu Dhabi, Qantas and American airlines, to begin airline operations with India. Notably, India had suspended the international flights since March 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Battered by the pandemic, the airline industry is slowly coming back to normalcy and the resumption of normal overseas flights is expected to provide a fillip to the sector.

The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in the national capital, which is also the country's largest airport, expects international flight departures to witness a significant jump in the first week of April after the resumption of regular international operations.

Overseas flights are being operated now under bilateral air bubble arrangements with various countries. On March 8, the civil aviation ministry announced that regular overseas flights will resume from March 27 amid a decline in Covid-19 cases.

The government has also revised the Covid-19 guidelines for international flight operations, including the removal of the requirement to keep three seats vacant on overseas flights for medical emergencies.

Besides, the requirement for the crew to have a complete PPE kit has been done away with. In a statement on March 26, IndiGo Chief Commercial Officer Willy Boulter said the airline is keen on resuming international operations back to pre-Covid levels but that will also depend on factors like arrival guidelines of various countries.

"We certainly have plans to open new destinations in the near future as well as pump up capacity on our existing routes as travel further opens up. Reaching economies of scale in such a dynamic environment where ATF and other fixed costs are constantly going up, becomes challenging," he said.

On March 25, a DIAL spokesperson said, "Post resumption of commercial operations, South East Asia and Europe are expected to be the main drivers of further international passenger growth".

The spokesperson had also said the number of international Air Traffic Movements (ATMs) is likely to increase from 165 per day to 300 per day in summer 2022.

The total weekly departures of international flights are expected to increase 66 percent in the first week of April once the regular overseas flights commence, according to the spokesperson. This is in comparison to the flights that operated under bilateral air bubble arrangements during winter 2021.

British carrier Virgin Atlantic would start a second daily service between Delhi and London starting from June 1. Coupled with its service from Mumbai, Virgin Atlantic will offer three daily flights from India, it said on March 25.

"American Airlines is proud to serve India with daily service between New York (JFK) and New Delhi (DEL). As India resumes international flying, we look forward to expanding our presence in the country as we deepen our partnership with IndiGo and plan to launch new service between Seattle (SEA) and Bangalore (BLR) later this year," Rhett Workman, Managing Director, Europe, Middle East and Asia Operations at American Airlines, said in a statement on March 25.

Poland-based LOT Polish Airlines, on March 24, said it would commence flights to Mumbai from May 31 and resume services to Delhi from March 29.

While mentioning about the resumption of regular international flights, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, on March 8, said, "with this step, I am confident the sector will reach new heights."

(With inputs from agencies)