New Delhi India has sent a proposal to 10 other countries, including Saudi Arabia, to operate flights under the air bubble deal, the Union government told parliament on Thursday. India currently has such agreements with 31 countries. The Embassy of India in Saudi Arabia wrote on Twitter: “The Embassy is pleased to announce the air bubble agreement between India and Saudi Arabia as of January 1, 2022.” Under the new air bubble agreement, airlines can now operate direct routes between the two countries in accordance with Covid regulations. India has built an aviation bubble with Afghanistan. Indian Airlines and Ariana Afghan Airlines are now allowed to operate flights between India and Afghanistan and carry the following groups of people on such flights: “We are doing everything we can to normalize the situation, but thanks to Omicron, we currently have our air bubble agreement with 31 countries and we have sent proposals to 10 other countries to have the bubble agreement, Scindia declared in the House of Commons the fourth day of the current winter session of Parliament. The air transport bubble agreement are temporary arrangements between two countries. These agreements aim to resume commercial passenger transport if scheduled international flights are suspended. India sent a proposal to Saudi Arabia, 9 other countries for air operations under the air bubble agreement It should be noted that Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister of Civil Aviation, on the 2nd. December told Lok Sabha that India had sent a proposal to Saudi Arabia and nine other countries to operate flights under the air bubble deal. International passenger flights are currently restricted under bilateral bubble agreements with various countries. As on November 24, India had formalized agreements on the air bubble with 31 countries. Read also| India discussed air bubble with Saudi Arabia: government In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, India signed an air bubble agreement with 35 countries, including Afghanistan, Bahrain, Australia, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Canada, Germany, Finland, France, Japan, Iraq, Kenya, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Kuwait, Maldives, Mauritius, Oman, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Russia, Qatar, Seychelles, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Switzerland, Tanzania, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the United States of America and Uzbekistan.

Under this bubble agreement, Indian and Saudi airlines are allowed to operate flights between India and Saudi Arabia and carry the following categories of people on these flights: As scheduled scheduled flights in India remain suspended thanks to the new Variant of Covid-19 Omicron, India has announced a new bubble flight agreement with Saudi Arabia. Passengers will soon be able to fly between India and Saudi Arabia, as part of the new air transport bubble agreement. The Embassy of India in Riyadh said the agreement would enter into force on January 1, 2022. Under the new bubble agreement, airlines can now operate flights between the two countries in accordance with COVID regulations. The Indian government and the Saudi government have signed an air bubble agreement that allows all eligible travelers to travel between the two countries. Although Saudi Arabia hosted Umrah pilgrims, tour operators were reluctant to offer packages that expected a volatile travel market due to the lack of direct flights between the two countries. The Indian government has long been actively pursuing an air bubble deal with Saudi Arabia. The Indian ambassador, Dr. Ausaf Sayeed, was constantly working on the agreement that was finally reached. So far, India has signed air bubble agreements with 35 countries. Scheduled international passenger flights from India are suspended until 31 January 2022.

Of the ten countries where the Indian government has had proposals for an agreement on the air transport bubble, two have already been confirmed, namely Saudi Arabia and Australia. New Zealand and Thailand are also expected to sign air transport agreements with India. An official statement said: “India has reached an air bubble agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Indian airlines and Saudi Arabian airlines are now allowed to operate flights between India and Saudi Arabia and carry passengers on flights defined in the agreement. Traffic to and from India includes only passengers to or from Saudi Arabia, and traffic to and from Saudi Arabia includes only passengers to or from India. Please note that the air transport bubble is open to Indian nationals or nationals of Nepal or Bhutan who hold a valid visa for Saudi Arabia and whose final destination is Saudi Arabia. “We have 10 proposals pending for the air bubble agreement. We have forwarded the proposals to these countries.

Saudi Arabia is one of them. We are waiting for their news,” Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said in response to a question from Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) MP AND Mohammed Basheer in the Lok Sabha. Topics: Air Travel Bubbles Agreement • COVID-19 • India`s Air Bubble Agreement with Saudi Arabia • Omicron Variant This means that interested travelers will be able to travel to and from Saudi Arabia from January 1. Saudi Arabia is the 34th country to conclude an air transport bubble agreement with India. The other 33 are Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, Qatar, Russia, Rwanda, Switzerland, Tanzania, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Ethiopia, Finland, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Kuwait, Maldives, Mauritius, Afghanistan, France, Germany, Iraq, Nigeria, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, United States, Japan, Nepal, Netherlands and Uzbekistan. Jeddah: In a great relief for thousands of NRIs and Umrah pilgrims, the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia announced friday night the start of special direct flights between India and Saudi Arabia. The agreement will increase the frequency of direct flights between Saudi Arabia and India and to some extent reduce the surge in air fares. The air bubble agreement will allow flights between the two countries from January 1, 2022. i. Indian nationals in CIS countries (excluding Russia);. . .

. The world`s major economies have rushed to take precautions after scientists said they found a highly virulent and potentially vaccine-resistant variant of the COVID-19 virus in South Africa. i. U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and foreign nationals holding a valid U.S. visa; “Omicron is certainly a setback because every country in the world must be safe and secure. This is our top priority, and that is why different countries have set different standards. I think the benchmark set by our administration by marking 11 countries that have been marked as `endangered` as `endangered` and testing them fully is the way forward,” Scindia told Congressmanish Tewari.

i. Afghan nationals/residents and foreign nationals holding a valid visa for Afghanistan, if required; and. . Iv. Only seafarers from the EU/Schengen area, South America or Africa. . I. Stranded nationals/residents of Japan and foreign nationals in possession of a valid Japanese visa, subject to border measures and travel restrictions imposed by the Japanese government at the time of travel; and. India has suspended all planned international passenger flight operations in India until January 31 due to the increase in Covid-19 cases and the appearance of the omicron variant. .