India to Restart International Flights From March 27

International travelers will be eligible to enter India, starting from March 27, after the latter’s government has decided to lift the two-year ban imposed as a result of the Coronavirus and restart international flights.

Such a decision will help the country’s travel and tourism industry recover from the damages caused by the virus and its new strains, VisaGuide.World reports.

“After deliberation with stakeholders and keeping in view the decline in the COVID-19 caseload, we have decided to resume international travel from March 27 onwards,” India’s civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia pointed out in this regard.

Based on the data provided by the World Health Organization (WHO), a total of 42,971,308 cases of COVID-19 infection have been registered in India since the start of the pandemic, while a total of 515,210 people have died during the same period.

In addition, WHO figures show that in the last seven days, there were reported a total of 40,263 cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,187 deaths.

However, last month, authorities in India decided to ease the measures imposed due to the Coronavirus, especially the Omicron variant, after ensuring that the epidemiological situation permits such a decision to be taken.

Since last month, travelers from other countries are no longer required to follow the mandatory seven-day quarantine requirement or take a PCR test on the eighth day.

Authorities in India imposed stricter entry rules in January, following the increased number of infections reported in December; however, last month, the country’s government decided to ease the travel rules after estimating the epidemiological situation in the country.

In this regard, the aviation ministry said, “international operations shall be subject to strict adherence to (current) health ministry guidelines.”

La rápida propagación del coronavirus en 2020 llevó a las autoridades de la India a suspender los vuelos internacionales regulares el 23 de marzo de 2020, como parte de los esfuerzos para detener la propagación del coronavirus.

La suspensión temporal de vuelos ha afectado profundamente al sector de viajes y turismo, provocando una disminución significativa en el número de turistas internacionales debido a las reglas de entrada y otras restricciones impuestas debido al virus.

En la actualidad, las autoridades de la India permiten que las aerolíneas operen un número limitado de vuelos a países con los que las autoridades del país tienen acuerdos en virtud del acuerdo de burbujas de aire. Tal decisión ha limitado la operación de las aerolíneas y también ha afectado su rentabilidad, según Reuters.