India opens doors for vaxxed travellers from 99 countries

India opens doors for vaxxed travellers from 99 countries

But High Int’l Airfares Play Party Pooper

Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:16.11.2021

India on Monday reopened its doors for fullyvaccinated foreign tourists from across the world. Now, travellers who have got approved jabs are allowed in quarantine-free from as many as 99 countries, including the US, UK, UAE, Qatar, France and Germany. However, skyhigh international airfares due to limited air bubble flights are playing party pooper for both those who wish to come to India and those who wish to fly abroad for visiting friends and relatives or for just good old tourism.

A return economy class air ticket on Delhi-San Francisco or Delhi-Toronto for travel around Christmas and New Year is upwards of Rs 1.5 lakh, Mumbai-New York starts at Rs 1.2 lakh and Bengaluru-London is upwards of Rs 80,000. On peak travel days, a one-way ticket can cost more than prepandemic return fares.

A senior aviation ministry official had recently said flights under air bubbles will be increased as per demand. But a delay in doing so means a large number of people are forced to book at exorbitant rates and subsequent drop in fares due to more flights being allowed does not benefit them.

Travel Agent Federation of India joint secretary Anil Kalsi said, “The limited international flights have reduced capacity and led to manifold increase in fares. For example, Delhi-Dubai economy return is currently more than double of pre-pandemic level of under Rs 20,000. The government should consider resumption of scheduled international flights with countries where Covid is in control and which mutually accept our vaccines and certification.” German ambassador to India Walter J Lindner Tweeted Monday, “Incredible India opens its doors again, tourists now can fly to India. Happy that Covid19 situation in India has improved lots in last months. Hope soon regular commercial flights will fly again.”

Consumers and the diplomatic and travel community have requested the government to allow more international flights to allow airfares to return to saner levels. High airfares are hurting more due to “new” costs for travellers during Covid worldwide. A majority of countries require negative report of a Covid test taken within one to three days to allow travellers in.