All international flights to and from India are suspended until July 15.
An official announcement by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) declared the Indian Airspace closed until a bilateral understanding is reached between India and some countries with prominent flight routes between them.
This temporary flight suspension included flights from the United States to India.
This decision was reached after the United States objected to Air India’s unfair domination of repatriation flight schedules between India and the US. Air India had started the Vande Bharat Mission with an intention to help transport stranded Indian nationals stranded abroad due to the Covid lockdown. These flights also flew some NRIs including OCI holders and US citizens stranded in India back to the US.
The US Transportation Department is looking to establish to a bilateral arrangement wherein American Airlines and Delta Airlines are given approval to enter India’s airspace. This objection was followed by airlines in France and UAE looking to fly to India shortly.
While some “international scheduled flights may still be allowed on select routes”, most airlines, including Air India’s Vande Bharat remains suspended until July 15, 2020.
Are You Scheduled To Board An Air India flight?
Here are details about Air India’s Vande Bharat Flights
If you are scheduled to board a flight to India in the next couple of weeks, call your airline to confirm details first.
What You Should Know When Flights To India Resume After July 15
- India is expected to resume flights to the US, UK, France, and Germany.
- These flights will not follow the traditional flight plan or routes followed previously and will be evaluated by a “competent authority on case-to-case basis”, said DGCA.
- These flight routes will have to be approved by the destination country before taking off.
- Flight Delays and cancellations should be expected.
- Travelers should confirm that they have a valid visa and travel papers for any transiting country within their itinerary.
- Hence it is important to contact the airline directly to confirm your itinerary and travel details.
