India resumed international commercial flights to the rest of the world on Sunday after two years of pandemic-linked restrictions; a move that the country’s struggling tourism sector has welcomed.
On Sunday 27 March India reopened its doors to the world, outside of its original ‘bubble’ destinations including Australia which restarted flights to Delhi in December.
“It is a very good sign that the international flights are starting now,” the president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators, Rajiv Mehra, told EFE.
The Indian government had banned the entry of international passenger flights in the country on 23 March 2020, a day before announcing a complete lockdown of the country to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, although it began operating some flights under bilateral bubble arrangements from July that year.
The limited air travel opportunities and allowing the entry of foreign tourists from 15 November 2021, has slightly eased the situation for the tourist sector, hit hard by the restrictions.
However, the lack of flights and the uncertainty triggered by the three waves of coronavirus in the country have led to a surge in ticket prices.
“The fares are (still) very high,” Mehra said, adding that it would take a few months for the number of international flights to reach the pre-pandemic levels.
The number of tourist arrivals could take time to reach the numbers registered before 2020, as Mehra highlighted that people prefer to plan their India visit much in advance, ruling out a major surge during the Easter holidays.
Until February, India had been classifying its bubble countries as per risk assessment, with different restrictions in place for each country.
India has been open to Australia since late last year, with Qantas celebrating its first flight from Australia to India in almost a decade in December.
The airline also took off from Melbourne to Delhi just before Christmas, with the route packed with passengers heading to India to reunite with their families and loved ones.
“With a big Indian expat community and growing trade and investment ties, India is going to be an incredibly important market for the Flying Kangaroo as international travel recovers,” said Andrew David, Qantas Domestic and International CEO.
Last month India withdrew the requirement of mandatory quarantine for arriving travellers.
Travellers are still required to be fully vaccinated and carry a negative RT-PCR test report within 72 hours of boarding the flights, according to the rules published by the health ministry in February.
Source: AAP.
