Published 15:56 IST, January 2nd 2021
India-UK flights to resume on Jan 6, air travel from UK to India to restart on Jan 8
Offering more clarification on the resumption of UK-India flights amid concerns over new strain, Hardeep Singh Puri said India to UK will resume on January 6.
Offering more clarification on the resumption of UK-India flights amid concerns over the new COVID-19 variant in Britain, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on January 2 informed that flights from India to the UK can start on January 6 itself but flights from the UK to India will begin on January 8. The Union Minister also said that the schedule will remain valid until January 23 with at least 30 lights being operated every week, 15 from each country.
In the wake of the new strain of COVID-19 which is being linked to the record surge of coronavirus infections in the UK, India announced a temporary ban on all flight operations between the two nations on December 21 which was effective from December 23. The initial ban till December 31 was also extended to January 7.
However, on January 1, the civil aviation ministry had also announced that the flight embargo will be partially lifted starting from January 8 with limited flights. The UK-India flight movement will only take place at international airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai.
"It has been decided that flights between India and the UK will resume from January 8. Operations till January 23 will be restricted to 15 flights per week each for carriers of the two countries to and from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad only," civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in a tweet. The minister added that the DGCA would "issue details".
Read - All Passengers From UK To Be Tested For COVID-19 On Arrival Between Jan 8-Jan 30: Health Ministry
Govt issues SOPs for flight resumption
The services of UK-India flights are currently being operated by Air India, Vistara, British Airways, and Virgin Atlantic. The Civil Aviation Minister also shared the Standard Operation Procedure or SOPs by the government for the ‘epidemiological surveillance & response for the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the context of regulated resumption of limited flights originating from the UK to India from January 8’.
Updated 15:56 IST, January 2nd 2021