India to resume scheduled foreign flights

India will resume scheduled commercial international passenger services from 15 December after they were suspended in March 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The resumption of services will revert to bilaterally agreed capacity entitlements and termination of air bubble arrangements, the Indian government said. Capacity entitlements come under three categories depending on their risk assessment. Airlines can operate at full capacity to and from the countries not classified as "at risk", the government said.

The latest health ministry guidelines list 12 countries, including South Africa and countries in Europe including UK, as at risk. Passengers from these regions are subject to Covid-19 testing on arrival and mandatory quarantine.

India's international aircraft movements of 20,400 in October was up by 16pc from the previous month, with passenger traffic on international routes rising to 2.22mn in October from 1.69mn in September, according to data compiled by state-controlled Airports Authority of India from all operational Indian airports.

By Sathya Narayanan