New Delhi: On Saturday, the Civil Aviation Ministry said that India and Sri Lanka have established a bilateral air bubble for special international passenger flights to operate.
India now has 28 such pacts which include Afghanistan, Bahrain, Canada, France, Germany, Iraq, Japan, the Maldives, Nigeria, Qatar, the UAE, the UK and the USA.
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Under this pact, the two countries can operate special international passenger flights by their airlines into each other's territories under restrictive conditions.
According to a PTI report, scheduled international flights have been suspended in India since March 23, 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. But through, the Vande Bharat Mission since May last year and under bilateral air bubble arrangements in July, special international passenger flights have been operating.
On Thursday, New Zealand announced that it has temporarily suspended entry for all travellers from India, including its own citizens, for about two weeks owing to the high number of positive coronavirus cases being reported by the country.
According to a Reuters report, "We are temporarily suspending entry into New Zealand for travellers from India," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a news conference in Auckland.
Arden added, "I want to emphasize that while arrivals of COVID from India have prompted this measure, we are looking at how we manage high-risk points of departure generally. This is not a country specific risk assessment..."