The decision to resume international flights, or so it seems, has just been taken. India, finally, is all set to resume international flights- such a keyword study for those curiously searching on news related to the aviation sector and all that’s happening in that part of the world, which is hardly ever inactive or not buzzing! Isn’t it?
But having said that, just what exactly led to the resumption of the flights and what effectively constituted to this change of strategy? Moreover, how far is the COVID 19 menace- or the lack of it nowadays- related to the decision of restarting the international flights where India is concerned?
Also, could it be that the holiday season is what may have led to a change in stance related to the international flights from India to the rest of the world? What do we know about that?
At this time, there are boundless questions and some very important ones as you may note. Let’s try and dive into some details from a news report that got published on Hindustan Times on the said matter as on November 26, 2021 and see what it has to say:
The decision has been taken in consultation with the health ministry in light of the Covid situation across the world, especially the emergence of new variants. On Thursday, South Africa confirmed a new variant of Coronavirus which is believed to be more transmissible and vaccine-evasive. The variant has been reported in Botswana and Hong Kong as well apart from South Africa. India is not resuming regular international flight operations with Botswana and South Africa.
With some of the countries on the list India has a travel bubble that permits a certain number of flights a week, which will continue in a different format, officials explained. At-risk countries with an air bubble agreement with India will see the resumption of 75% pre-covid operations, while at-risk countries without an air bubble agreement with India will see the resumption of 50% of the pre-Covid operations.
In some ways, it could be said that whatever decision was taken in the end was perhaps for the best interest of everybody. There’s nothing quite like an international tour or travel at the fag end of the year with the wondrous and scenic worldly destinations calling out to the travelers- what do you reckon?
Moving on, on the matter of the resumption of the international flights, a major policy change of a sort, the civil aviation minister, Mr. Jyotiraditya Scindia expressed his and his ministry’s enthusiasm about the much-needed change by expressing the following:
“We are evaluating the process. We are coming back to normalcy. First, we allowed 100% passenger capacity in our domestic flights and now we allowed in-flight meals in those flights!”