Indian carriers can operate in Kenya, Bhutan with air bubble agreement: Hardeep Puri

Indian carriers will now be able to operate in Kenya and Bhutan as bilateral air bubble arrangements are now in place, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri informed on Wednesday.

India already has such agreements with 13 other countries including Japan, the United States, Britain, Germany, and Canada. In Africa thus far, an air bubble deal was operating only with Nigeria.

This comes a day after German carrier Lufthansa cancelled all its planned India flights between September 30 and October 20 amid ongoing disagreements over which flights will be operated as part of the air-bubble arrangement signed between India and Germany.

The German airline in a statement said the cancellations were due to “unexpected rejection of its planned flight schedule by India authorities”. It further added that the Indian government has so far not accepted the invitation by the German government to discuss details of the temporary travel agreement between the two nations.

India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in a statement said an air bubble agreement was formalised with Germany in July. However, there are restrictions in place for Indians desiring to travel to Germany which was putting Indian carriers at a disadvantage resulting in an inequitable distribution of traffic in favour of Lufthansa, it added.

"Bilateral air bubbles are the way forward to establish international flight connectivity. These will be present until international aviation becomes normal. Many countries still have travel restrictions. We will operate in air bubbles," Hardeep Puri had earlier said.

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What is a bilateral air bubble?

A bilateral air bubble is when specific countries mutually decide to open the travel corridor between them, based on understanding and partnership. Given the current Coronavius situation in the country, a bilateral air bubble is signed between two nations who agree to allow inbound and outbound flights between their countries. 

This sort of agreement helps a host country acknowledge that they are well aware of the pandemic situation of the other country, and would still want to go forward and allow their passengers to travel to their nation. This mutual understanding is important to ease air travel restrictions for incoming passengers, who have to follow a select protocol keeping in mind the pandemic situation of the host country.

Scheduled international flights have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown. However, special international passenger flights have been operating in the country under Vande Bharat Mission since May and under bilateral air bubble arrangements formed between India and other countries since July.

(PTI Photo)

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