India, Bangladesh flights to resume from today as part of the air bubble arrangement

"Passengers travelling from Bangladesh to India shall be mandatorily subjected to self-paid confirmatory molecular tests on arrival at the Indian airports concerned (port of entry)," MoCA Said.

Representational Image (Credits: PTI)

New Delhi: As a part of the Air-bubble agreement, flights between India and Bangladesh will resume today (September 3, 2021), according to the civil aviation ministry. The flight services are resuming after four months of suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Earlier, in a communication to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, the ministry said the air bubble can be restarted from September 3 till resumption of international passenger flights. Domestic carriers, including SpiceJet, IndiGo and Air India, will be operating flights to Dhaka.

The announcement was made by Rajeev Jain, Additional Director General (Media & Communications) and spokesman for the civil aviation ministry. 

"Passengers travelling from Bangladesh to India shall be mandatorily subjected to self-paid confirmatory molecular tests on arrival at the Indian airports concerned (port of entry). 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 per cent or 95 per cent)," MoCA Said.

The release added that the 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, travellers 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," MoCA Letter read. 

(With Agency inputs)