Government taking cautious approach to normalising international flight ops: Jyotiraditya Scindia

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that the Omicron variant has raised concerns across the globe, which is why India also needs to be careful.

He said, “So far, 1 crore 83 lakh people have been able to return to their homes in India and abroad under the Vande Bharat scheme,” said Scindia. “We will slowly normalise flight operations. We have air-bubble agreements with 31 countries and are in the process of forming such agreements with 10 more nations, including Saudi Arabia.”

He said India is enforcing revised guidelines for travellers from at-risk nations namely South Africa, Botswana, China, Hong Kong, Brazil, Mauritius, New Zealand, Singapore, Zimbabwe, Israel, and all European nations, including UK. Yesterday, close to 5,500 passengers flying from 26 international airports have been tested.

He said, “We have to strike a balance between safety and convenience of travel.”

He said every nation would take steps to protect its people. Hence, it’s difficult to say that WHO and International Civil Aviation Organisation would come up with a set of rules uniformly applicable to all countries amidst the new developments.