India will resume international flights as of March 27 after a two-year ban, brightening the outlook for the tourism industry because of which international air tickets are expected to get as much as 40% cheaper.
After deliberation with stakeholders and keeping in view the decline in the COVID-19 caseload, we have decided to resume international travel from March 27 onwards,” India’s civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia tweeted late Tuesday.
Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS), which is part of the Lufthansa Group, is expected to almost double flights in the coming months while Singapore Airlines plans to add 17% to capacity. Homegrown carrier IndiGo Airlines is also expected to resume over 100 international flights in the months ahead.As part of air bubble agreements signed with various countries to operate flights during the pandemic-induced travel restrictions, carriers were allowed to operate a limited number of flights. Airfares increased as much as 100% due to the restrictions on the number of
flights due to a supply-demand mismatch during the pandemic.
The international flights were to resume in December last year but the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 stalled the process. The flight operations were to start from March 15 but the Russia-Ukraine delayed the process.
The move is also likely to bring relief for passengers as airfares may come down.
