India resumes scheduled int’l flights after 2 years

India today resumed scheduled international flight services after a two-year hiatus imposed by Covid-19 on most foreign flights, bringing the much-needed relief to the tourism industry which was one of the worst-hit by the pandemic.

According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, six Indian airlines and 60 foreign airlines will start connecting India with 63 countries from today.

According to the new summer schedule, foreign airlines will operate 1,783 weekly flights, while Indian carriers will operate 1,466 departures every week.

The two-year suspension on scheduled flights was imposed in March 2020 in the wake of the pandemic. However, a few overseas flights were operated under bilateral air bubble agreements with other countries.

The Indian Civil Aviation Ministry on March 4 announced that regular overseas flights will resume from March 27 following a decline in Covid-19 cases.

The reopening scheduled commercial international passengers' services to and from India has been hailed by the country's tourism and travel industry stakeholders of the country.

Rajeev Mehra, resident of Indian Association of Tour Operators, said this would definitely increase tourist traffic to India and from September 2022 onwards, which is the start of the next inbound tourism season, a substantial amount of the affected business is expected to be back.

Tourism has been one of the most adversely-affected sectors due to the pandemic, impacting livelihoods of stakeholders related to the tourism industry.

The Ministry of Tourism has extended financial support in the form of credit under the Credit Guarantee Scheme at concessional rates, to tour operators, travel agents and regional level tourist guides, approved by the Ministry of Tourism.