India to Resume International Travel After 2 Years of COVID-19 Suspension

While scheduled international flight services have been suspended since March 2020 due to the pandemic, special flights have been operating between India and 37 countries since July 2020 under the air bubble arrangements.

After having recognised the increased vaccination coverage across the globe and in consultation with the stakeholders, the Government of India has decided to resume scheduled commercial international passenger services to/ from India from 27.03.2022, i.e. start of summer schedule 2022.

The international operations will be subject to “strict adherence to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare guidelines for international travel” dated February 10, which state that all travellers coming to India should either have a full-vaccination certificate or a negative RT-PCR test conducted 72 hours prior to boarding.

The decision means that airlines can operate with capacity as decided under the original bilateral air service agreements between India and their home country, instead of the restricted capacities decided under the air bubble arrangements.

The demand for international travel is picking up in India, and there has been a significant uptick in travel search queries for popular international destinations like Australia, Sri Lanka, the US and UK. Travel search queries from India for Australian cities like Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney have jumped 15-20 per cent this month.

Contact our local OPS team in India for any operational enquiries we are happy to help your planning for the Summer Schedule: [email protected]