India to lift ban on international flights after two years

India will finally lift its official ban on scheduled, international passenger flights from 27 March, its Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has announced.

The country banned most foreign flights almost two years ago.

“After having recognised the increased vaccination coverage across the globe and in consultation with the stakeholders, the government of India has decided to resume scheduled commercial international passenger services to/from India from 27/03/2022,” read a statement from the DGCA on Tuesday.

A limited number of flights have operated between the UK and India in the last two years, thanks to a bilateral agreement between the two countries.

This arrangement - known as an “air transport bubble” - was mainly to repatriate stranded Indian and UK citizens, transport diplomats and other restricted visa holders.

Authorities implemented travel bubbles with several countries, including the UAE and Canada, last summer.

As of 14 February, fully vaccinated British travellers no longer need to take a pre-travel test or undergo quarantine when visiting India.

International visitors who can prove they have had two jabs or more of a recognised Covid vaccine can instead fill in a pre-travel declaration form and “self-monitor” for the first 14 days of their trip - replacing the previous requirement to take a PCR test before travel and quarantine for a week. Under fives are exempt from the declaration form.

All travellers must submit a self-declaration form on the online Air Suvidha portal before departure.

The news comes as airlines are forced to change their flightpaths due to reciprocal airspace bans between Russia and the UK, EU, US and Canada.

Finnair is one of the worst affected carriers, with its Helsinki to Tokyo flight taking up to four hours longer when avoiding Russian airspace.

“The impact would be far greater if the Covid-19 pandemic had not effectively closed down most flights between western Europe and the key Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong,” wrote The Independent’s travel expert Simon Calder this week.

“The most direct flight between London and Beijing spends many hours overflying Russia, while about half the journey time of the former Cathay Pacific link between Manchester and Hong Kong was spent in Russian airspace.”