India has now established air bubble agreement with 21 countries

During the lockdown, India had initially established travel bubbles with countries such as the United States, Germany, and France to start repatriation drive as early as May to bring back stranded Indians. Soon after, air bubbles were established to further ease the travel to other countries. Since then, India has formed agreements with 21 nations in total the latest being Rwanda in the first week of November 2020.

‘Transport Bubbles’ or ‘Air Travel Arrangements’ are temporary arrangements between two countries aimed at restarting commercial passenger services when regular international flights are suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the arrangement, airlines from both countries are allowed to operate, unlike Mission Vande Bharat where only Indian air carriers were allowed to operate flights. They are reciprocal in nature, meaning airlines from both countries enjoy similar benefits.

More passengers travelling to visit their families, for health reasons, for business and some even for a casual visit has resulted in a spike in the number of people taking international flights through the ‘air bubble’ arrangement.

The 21 countries that India has established an air bubble include Afghanistan, Bhutan, US, UK, Germany, France, Japan, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Netherlands, Canada, Iraq, Kenya, Oman, and Ukraine.

The government is in discussion with Italy, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Australia, Israel, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand for similar arrangements.

Countries such as Hong Kong and Germany have suspended or have limited flights with India over COVID-19 cases and schedules, respectively. Recently, India and Oman have cut capacity on their travel bubble following passengers testing positive for COVID-19. Under the new agreement, airlines in each country can only fly 5,000 passengers every week, down from 10,000 previously.

Also, unlike Vande Bharat Mission, the Air Bubble Pact allows flyers to travel freely without registering with the government. In Vande Bharat Mission, one has to register their name with the Indian Embassy in order to fly out of a specific country. Mission Vande Bharat is undertaken only in countries where no flight is allowed to fly.

However, the majority of flights are still bringing out stranded Indian citizens, OCI cardholders and diplomats not all countries are allowing visas of all categories. It’s only that under the air bubble agreement, you don’t have to do additional paperwork such as registering online or with the embassy to fly in and out of the country. The rest of the travelling remains the same as the pre-COVID period, only that international border rules apply. In India, for example, even people holding valid tourist visas are not allowed.