Providing some relief to people who are planning to travel to Saudi Arabia, the Indian government has announced that they have signed the air bubble flight agreement with the Gulf nation, and direct flights between both nations have commenced, said the Indian Embassy in Riyadh.
With this, India now has an air bubble agreement with 34 countries, which includes, Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tanzania, Ukraine, UAE, United Kingdom, USA, and Uzbekistan. Scheduled international passenger flight operations remained suspended in India till January 31.
The government earlier this month had informed the Parliament that they have a proposal from 10 countries to sign the air bubble agreement, out of which announcements have been made for Australia and Saudi Arabia now. The major nations to follow the suit are Thailand and New Zealand.
India has created an air bubble arrangement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Indian carriers and carriers of Saudi Arabia are now permitted to operate flights between India and Saudi Arabia and carry passengers on flights defined in the agreement. Traffic carried to/from India shall comprise of passengers originating from/destined to Saudi Arabia only, and similarly, traffic carried to/from Saudi Arabia shall comprise of passengers originating from/destined to India only,” read the official statement.
Transport Bubbles or Air Travel Arrangements are temporary arrangements between two countries aimed at restarting commercial passenger services when regular international flights are suspended as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. They are reciprocal in nature, meaning airlines from both countries enjoy similar benefits.
Blogs
