The Government of India has made the announcement to further extend the Covid-19 related restrictions placed on travel and visa. In an order, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) informed about the decision when the travel and tourism industry was expecting no such extension and hoping for regular flights from March 15.
Will the government give the nod to restart scheduled international commercial flights by the middle of March 2022? That is a question doing the rounds among affected stakeholders?
The Government of India has made the announcement to further extend the Covid-19 related restrictions placed on travel and visa. In an order, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) informed about the decision when the travel and tourism industry was expecting no such extension and hoping for regular flights from March 15.
Earlier reports said that the government was planning to lift the exiting travel and visa restrictions and resume scheduled international commercial flights to and from India. But the travel and tourism industry has to wait a little longer as a decision is expected around the first fortnight of March 2022.
According to the revised circular, the current restrictions will continue to apply till ‘further orders’ and not till the end of the month.
With the extension of restrictions, scheduled international commercial flights will not operate to and from India.
However, the international air operations will continue to ply on the basis of the air bubble arrangements. Cargo operations will also continue as usual despite the restrictions.
The ban on regular international flights will force the tourism-related business to suffer for some more time. With no international tourism business for the third consecutive tourism season, the travel trade and the industry in the country will continue to face challenges to their survival.
Commenting about the government’s decision, Ajay Prakash, President, Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) said: “The entire travel & tourism industry has been crippled over the last 23 months; the Government has failed to provide any tangible relief even as thousands of businesses have gone bankrupt and lakhs of people have lost their jobs. Travellers are being harassed with sky high airfares on account of the reduced inventory but none of this seems to matter to the powers that be,” he said.
Prakash went on say: “The whole world is opening up and welcoming travellers. India has among the highest vaccination and lowest infection rates in the world. What are we waiting for? We strongly appeal to the Hon’ble PM to take an informed decision and to open the Indian skies to international traffic without any further delay.”
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