India has established a travel bubble with Australia that allows airlines from both countries to operate between each other’s airports.
India has established special air travel arrangements with Australia to let the Indian and Australian carriers carry the passengers on their flights between India and Australia.
According to the Indian Civil Aviation Ministry, airlines can carry the following passengers:
A. Inbound flights into India:
a. Indian nationals or nationals of Nepal or Bhutan in Australia and New Zealand;
b. All Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders and PIO cardholders holding passports of any country; and
c. All foreign nationals holding a valid Indian visa as per extant guidelines.
B. Outbound flights from India:
a. Nationals/residents of Australia, and foreign nationals with a valid visa who are eligible to enter Australia/New Zealand;
b. Any Indian national or national of Nepal or Bhutan destined for Australia/ New Zealand and holding a valid visa of the destination country. It would be for the airlines concerned to ensure that there is no travel restriction for Indian/Nepalese/Bhutanese nationals to enter the destination country before the issue of ticket/boarding pass to the Indian/Nepalese/Bhutanese passenger; and
c. Seamen of foreign nationalities and Seamen holding Indian passports would be allowed subject to clearance from the Ministry of Shipping.
According to the ministry, “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. They are reciprocal in nature, meaning airlines from both countries enjoy similar benefits.
As of 10 December 2021, India has travel arrangements with 33 countries, including Singapore, Canada, France, Germany, Finland, Japan, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, UAE, UK and USA.
The complete list of the countries and respective conditions of travel can be found on the Indian Government’s website.
Follow NRI Affairs on Facebook and Twitter for latest updates.
