New Delhi: With US government on Monday calling Air India Vande Bharat flights as 'discriminatory', the Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Tuesday it got requests from US, France, Germany to allow their airlines to operate repatriation flights.
"We have received requests from concerned authorities in several countries including US, France, Germany among others requesting that their air carriers be allowed to participate in transportation of passengers along the line being conducted by Air India under Vande Bharat Mission. These requests are being examined. We have also had one round of negotiations with the US on 15 June with representatives of the US Department of Transportation and US Embassy on this issue," the ministry said.
"They were invited to submit precise proposals in this respect. Communication has now been received on 19 June, 2020 detailing these requests. These evacuation flights which were primarily meant for the evacuation of our citizens from all over the world are now increasingly carrying Indians and citizens of other countries outbound to countries where they are normally resident. As we move from controlled and managed aviation evacuation of our citizens in different parts of the world and foreign nationals from India, we are now looking at the possibility of establishing bilateral arrangements.
"As we contemplate further opening up in response to demands, we are looking at the prospect of establishing individual bilateral bubbles, India-US, India-France, India-Germany, India-UK. These are all destinations where demand for travel has not diminished. Final decisions pursuant to negotiations are expected to be taken soon," the ministry further said.
Accusing it of indulging in "discriminatory and restrictive practices" by violating a treaty governing aviation between the two countries, the US government on Monday restricted charter flights from India.
The US Transportation Department has accused the Indian Government of "discriminatory and restrictive practices" with respect to U.S. carrier services to and from India through the Vande Bharat repatriation mission to bring back stranded citizens.
"..we note that Air India has been conducting self-described "evacuation" charters (i.e., repatriation charters), between India and the United States in both directions since May 18, 2020. On May 19, 2020, an official from the Department advised Air India of the Department's concerns that some, if not all, of Air India's so-called evacuation charters have gone beyond true evacuations (at least on the India to the United States segments) and involved sales to any member of the general public able to enter the United States," the department wrote.
It also said, " On May 26, 2020, Delta Air Lines, Inc. ("Delta"), via letter, requested permission from the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) to perform repatriation charter services similar to those provided by Air India. To date, Delta has not received approval to perform the requested repatriation charters."
