India adds Sri Lanka in air bubble pact, passengers can now fly in 28 countries: Full list

An air bubble is a bilateral arrangement with a set of regulations and restrictions in which the carriers of the two countries can operate international flights.

“India has finalized an air bubble agreement with Sri Lanka, making it the 6th such arrangement in SAARC region and the 28th in total,” the Civil Aviation Ministry said on Twitter.

“All the eligible passengers will be able to travel between the 2 countries in the near future,” it noted.

Scheduled international flights have been suspended in India since March 23, 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

India now has such pacts with 28 countries, including Afghanistan, Bahrain, Canada, France, Germany, Iraq, Japan, the Maldives, Nigeria, Qatar, the UAE, the UK and the USA.

India has already established individual bilateral bubbles with France, Germany and the US that will allow airlines of each country in the pact to operate international flights.

India has air bubble agreements with the following countries:

• Afghanistan
• Bahrain
• Bangladesh
• Bhutan
• Canada
• Ethiopia
• France
• Germany
• Iraq
• Japan
• Kenya
• Kuwait
• Maldives
• Nepal
• Netherlands
• Nigeria
• Oman
• Qatar
• Russia
• Rwanda
• Seychelles
• Sri Lanka
• Tanzania
• Ukraine
• United Arab Emirates
• United Kingdom
• United States ofAmerica
• Uzbekistan

Meanwhile under the Vande Bharat Mission flights are being flown between cities listed below are being operated under Air Bubble arrangement:

UK ->India – Birmingham – India,India – London – India

Germany-> India- Frankfurt – India

France->India – Paris – India

Canada-> India – Toronto – India, India – Vancouver – India

Japan-> India – Narita- India

USA->India – New York – India, India – Chicago – India,India – Washington D.C. – India, India – Newark – India, India – San Francisco – India

Oman-> India – Muscat – India

UAE->India – Dubai – India

India->Abu Dhabi-India

Afghanistan->India – Kabul – India

Bangladesh->India – Dhaka – India

Nepal-> India – Kathmandu – India

Bahrain-> India – Bahrain – India

Russia-> India-Moscow-India

Qatar ->India-Doha-India

Kenya-> India-Nairobi-India

Maldives-> India-Male-India

Kuwait->India-Kuwait-India

Air France is operating 28 flights between Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Paris.

However, special international passenger flights have been operating under the Vande Bharat Mission since May last year and under bilateral air bubble arrangements since July.