Air France will operate 28 flights between Paris, and Indian cities - Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru from July 18 to August 1.
Officials in India’s civil aviation ministry told RFI that restrictions will be imposed by both the governments for incoming passengers meaning that only essential travel will be encouraged.
“After much negotiation, the country has established individual bilateral bubbles with France and the US to allow airlines of each country in the pact to operate international flights,” said aviation minister Hardeep Puri.
Air France allowed to operate flights to India:https://t.co/s2hsfCkdAk#Aviation #Airline #Airports #COVID19 #Coronavirus pic.twitter.com/WSMolX931J
— SpeedBird (@SpeedBird_NCL) July 16, 2020
"Travel bubbles", "travel corridors" and "air bridges" are terms that describe formal agreements between governments allowing travellers to bypass strict quarantine measures based on the countries they travel between.
Puri pointed out that air bubbles are "at a stage short of normal civil aviation activities".
In other words, these flights are a little more evolved than the repatriation flights but have not yet reached the "normal" stage.
More air bubbles to open
In recent weeks, the Indian government has been holding talks with counterparts in the US, UK, Germany, UAE and France to allow airlines from these countries to operate in India.
American carrier, United Airlines has already got the go-ahead for 18 flights, from July 17 to August 31. The American airline will operate flights between Indian cities of Delhi and Mumbai, and Newark and San Francisco.
Passenger flights have been suspended in India since 23 March because of the coronavirus pandemic. The government began resuming domestic flights on 25 May.
India establishes air bubbles with US, France; flights to start from tomorrow
— Amrita Bhinder (@amritabhinder) July 16, 2020
Air France will operate 28 flights Delhi, Mumbai & Bangalore to Paris from July 18 till August 1, United Air - 18 flights Delhi, Mumbai to Newark till 31 July.https://t.co/a5xEsdhXeF
-via @inshorts
Earlier this month, India announced an air bubble with the United Arab Emirates under specific conditions.
International flights being operated by India are predominantly repatriation flights, in the hope that bilateral air corridors will help to rebuild passenger confidence.
“At least these air bubbles will begin to instil confidence and begin the process of normal operations soon. But we know it will take a while,” Rajan Kumar of the Travel Agents Association told RFI.
Another destination that has seen a lot of demand for travel is London and efforts are underway to re-establish bilateral air routes.
During the pandemic, India operated over 900 flights in the world’s largest repatriation exercise called "Vande Bharat Mission", that saw more than 147,000 Indians return and more than 52,000 passengers flown out to different countries.
A report released by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) last month said the impact of Covid-19 on the aviation industry could potential loss in operating revenues of up to 390 billion dollars.
