Showing posts with label Foreign Aug 2021. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Foreign Aug 2021. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 01, 2021

Scindia flags off IndiGo's domestic flight, AI's international flight

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia virtually flagged off IndiGo's Delhi-Gwalior-Indore flight and Air India's Indore-Dubai flight on Wednesday, the civil aviation ministry stated. The ministry's statement quoted Scindia as saying that the establishment of direct flight connectivity on the Delhi-Gwalior-Indore route aligns with the objectives of the "Sab Uden Sab Juden" initiative of the Union government.

"With the aerial connectivity of the two cities of Madhya Pradesh with immense potential, new opportunities will get a boost in sectors of trade and tourism," he mentioned.

IndiGo's flight on Delhi-Gwalior-Indore route will operate daily. Air India has been operating a direct flight from Indore to Dubai from 2019 which is recommencing now with this non-stop connection, the ministry's statement mentioned.

01/09/21 PTI/Economic Times

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Dubai flights: Tourists not required to show vaccine records, say airlines

Dubai: Dubai-bound travellers are not required to show their vaccination records before entering the country, according to travel guidelines issued by the UAE and Indian carriers on Tuesday. The fresh travel update comes after UAE authorities announced the resumption of visit visas to Covid-vaccinated tourists from August 30.

Holders of all types of visa and/or entry permits granted by authorities in the UAE can now fly to Dubai, according to guidelines issued by UAE carriers Emirates and flydubai. Similar notices were published by Indian carriers Air India, Indigo and SpiceJet as well. An Air India official in Dubai also confirmed these reports to Khaleej Times on Monday.

Airlines published these revised guidelines based on protocols issued by the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) on Monday. At present, the approved visa categories allowed to travel into Dubai are residence visa, employment, short or extended stay, visit, and newly issued residence visa.

Inbound passengers arriving from restricted countries need to have a valid negative Covid-19 PCR test certificate with a QR code issued within 48 hours of the time the sample was collected from an approved health facility. They also need to produce a rapid PCR test report with a QR code for a test conducted at the departure airport within six hours of departure.

31/08/21 Dhanusha Gokulan/Khaleej Times

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SriLankan Airlines woos Indian tourists with 'buy one get one free' offer

New Delhi: Reopening for fully vaccinated Indian tourists — including those who got Covaxin, Sri Lanka is wooing them with a vengeance.

SriLankan Airlines has come with a “buy one and get one free” offer for desi leisure travellers on Colmobo return tickets. This offer is on till October 31, 2021.

Sri Lanka now allows fully vaccinated Indian tourists with no quarantine for those who test Covid negative on arrival.

“One just needs to be fully vaccinated, with the second shot taken at least 14 days before the trip. A mandatory RT-PCR test will be conducted in the hotel and if anyone tests positive will be taken to health care centres run from hotels,” the airline said.

“Sri Lanka is now open for Indian tourists. People need to be fully vaccinated, with the second shot taken at least 14 days before the trip. On arrival, travellers will go to their hotel where RT-PCR test will be conducted. Those who test negative can travel where they want to go,” SriLankan Airlines’ head of worldwide sales and distribution, Dimuthu Tennakoon, recently told TOI.

Also, there is no requirement for quarantine for travellers who test Covid negative on arrival in the Emerald Island.

All other Covid time requirements of social distancing and hand sanitation will be need to be obviously observed by those testing negative.

31/08/21 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Revising UAE air service pact will hurt Indian airlines, spike fares: CAPA

Mumbai: The Indian government's plan to revise air service agreement with UAE will constrain growth of Indian carriers and could lead to an aeropolitical dispute, aviation consultancy CAPA said today.

India-West Asia segment accounted for half of India's international air traffic in pre-Covid times. UAE is the largest market within West Asia, with around 60 per cent of traffic flow to and from the region.

India has separate air service agreements with Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah. A media report today said the civil aviation ministry is planning to merge it into a single agreement and cap the number of seats available to Indian and UAE carriers. This would lead to a reduction of flights being offered by UAE-based airlines and would increase fares, the report said. A decision to revise the agreement has to be mutually agreed upon by both parties.

In a tweet, CAPA said it would be a bold step if the government is indeed considering a revision in the air service agreement. However, the policy is unlikely to be implemented, the consultancy said.

"It would not only lead to an unnecessary aero-political battle, but would have repercussions in the bilateral relationship beyond aviation. Market access is connected to broader economic, trade and investment issues," CAPA said.

"From the UAE side, Emirates, flydubai and Air Arabia would likely be most impacted. It is not even in the interests of Indian carriers, given that they too would exhaust their entitlements if seats are cut by 33 per cent based on pre-Covid operations," it said.

"India is an important market for flydubai and we work within the bilateral agreement discussed at a government level," a flydubai spokesperson said.

India has exchanged around 135,000 seats per week with Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah in separate agreements. Pre-Covid, Indian carriers were utilising around 100,000 seats per week while the UAE carriers were utilising around 115,000 seats per week.

Both Indian and UAE carriers were fully utilising their seat entitlements on the Dubai and Sharjah routes. In the case of Abu Dhabi, Etihad was using 61 per cent of seats while Indian carriers were using only 35 per cent of seats. For Ras Al Khaimah utilisation of seats from the UAE side was zero and it was 26 per cent from the Indian side.

31/08/21 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

Monday, August 30, 2021

British Airways resumes Chennai-London flights from today; plus, updated Vande Bharat Mission flight schedule for Sept

The government of India has extended the suspension of scheduled international flights till September 30, 2021. However, Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) and other flights under Air Bubbles will continue and people eligible as per government norms can fly to and from India. India currently has Air Bubble arrangement with 28 countries.

“This restriction shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). International scheduled flights maybe allowed on selected routes by competent authority on case by case basis,” the DGCA order states.

It may be recalled that all scheduled international flights were suspended on March 23, 2020.

Air India has issued an updated schedule of Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) flights to/from various countries. As of August 28, 2021, under VBM, Air India Group has operated 32,143 flights and carried 4,094,771 passengers. Inbound Flights numbered 16,068 with 2,403,955  passengers while there were 16,075 Outbound flights carrying 1,690,816 passengers.

31/08/21 Preeti Verma Lal/Moneycontrol

Indian expat on ventilator repatriated home to Kerala in air ambulance

A 55-year-old paralysed blue-collar worker, who has been on a mechanical ventilator in the ICU for over 100 days, was finally repatriated to his hometown in Kerala, India, late Sunday night.

Moideenkutty Cheruvakkath, a Malappuram native, was flown to Calicut International Airport in a stretcher seat onboard an Air India flight with a medical team consisting of a doctor and a nurse. According to Naseer Vatanapally, the social worker assisting Cheruvakkath, the Consulate General of India in Dubai fully supported the financial costs of his repatriation.

Furthermore, since Cheruvakkath did not have medical insurance, he had raked up more than Dh570,000 in hospital bills at Aster Mankhool Hospital, where he received treatment. “A charity organisation donated nearly Dh200,000 towards the bill, and the hospital waived off the remaining,” Dr Sherbaz Bichu, CEO of Aster Hospitals and Clinics, UAE, told Khaleej Times.

“Emergency medical services took him to a private clinic as he suffered severe hand pain, and when he underwent tests, doctors found that he has a variation in his heartbeat. He was referred to a cardiologist at the clinic, and since he couldn’t afford to pay for the treatment, they asked him to travel home and undergo further treatment.”

Cheruvakkath was excited to fly home and meet his family. “Unfortunately, his condition worsened while he was getting his PCR test done,” added Dr Sherbaz. He was applying for a pre-travel Covid-19 test at a testing centre when he suffered a life-threatening heart complication nearly four months ago.

“He was rushed to Aster Hospital by the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) team, and a life-saving procedure was performed by specialist interventional cardiologist Dr Naveed Ahmed,” he added.

Cheruvakkath stayed in the ICU for 120 days until he recovered enough to fly back home and reunite with his family. “Although he did not have medical insurance, the treatment continued in the best interest of saving and sustaining life. Aster Hospital also supported the patient financially, and I feel blessed and accomplished to see him reaching his home safely,” added Dr Sherbaz.

30/08/21 Dhanusha Gokulan/Khaleej Times

India-UAE travel set for take-off after tourist visa announcement

Travel from India to the UAE is expected to take off in a big way after the announcement by the Gulf country to open tourist visa applications for fully inoculated travellers, according to industry executives.

Aside from boosting the spirits of cricket fans across the South Asian country, the announcement by the UAE authorities is also expected to lead the UAE travel market recovery to reach north of 60 percent of pre-pandemic levels, fuelled by the Expo 2020, Indian Premier League (IPL) and T-20 World Cup.

The Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) and the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority (NCEMA) announced on Sunday that the UAE is to open tourist visa applications for people from all countries, as long as they have been fully inoculated by one of the World Health Organisation (WHO)-approved Covid-19 vaccines.

Online travel aggregators such as Cleartrip have reported a 19 percent jump in bookings to the UAE and a 32 percent jump in website traffic following the announcement.

“The biggest winners are Emirates and Indian carriers IndiGo and Air India Express as people research their options following the latest news,” Atish Thapa, business head - Middle East at Cleartrip, told Arabian Business.

“Our website traffic has grown by 32 percent, particularly to our TravelSafe page, where travellers can get all related information,” Thapa said.

Thapa, however, said unlike other times, the air fares have not surged, and are maintained at the same levels as before the announcement.

“So we expect more travel going forward,” said the senior executive of Cleartrip, which has a major presence in the Middle East and India.

30/08/21 James Mathew/Arabian Business

Sunday, August 29, 2021

Indian Air Force C-17, C-130J aircraft return home from Afghan evacuation operations

New Delhi: After helping in the evacuation of more than 500 Indians from Afghanistan, Indian Air Force (IAF) transport aircraft have returned to their respective home bases in the country.

The Indian Air Force had deployed its C-17 Globemasters and C-130J Super Hercules aircraft for evacuation operations of Indians stuck in Afghanistan, which is now under the reins of the Taliban.

"The C-17 and C-130J aircraft have returned to their respective bases after deployment in Tajikistan and Afghanistan for people stuck in Kabul and other cities of the war-torn country," sources told ANI.

India had stationed a few of its planes in Dushanbe at the Ayni airbase there. A C-130J was also used to bring passengers from Kabul to Dushanbe from where they were flown back to India.

IAF aircraft were also used for evacuating Indian officials stuck in Mazar-e-Sharif and Kandahar consulates.

The operations after the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban were also carried out under extreme conditions as the runway had to be cleared for the plane to take off.

The Garud commandos of the Air Force had joined hands with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel being evacuated from there to clear the path for allowing the C-17 to take off with the Indian officials including the Ambassador there, sources said.

30/08/21 ANI/Deccan Chronicle


Biman pilot who suffered heart attack mid-air ‘clinically dead’

Captain Naushad Qayyum -- the Biman Bangladesh Airlines pilot who suffered a heart attack mid-air on Friday -- is clinically dead, Captain Shoaib Chowdhury, a senior pilot of Biman, has confirmed to The Daily Star.

Captain Mahbubur Rahman, president of Bangladesh Airlines Pilot Association, told The Daily Star that the medical board in charge of his treatment will take the decision on removing ventilation support of Captain Nawshad following meeting with his family members.

A Biman official said the foreign ministry told them that they are trying to complete all necessary formalities to bring the Captain's body to Dhaka once the medical board announces him dead.

Sources in India yesterday told The Daily Star that the pilot is in "coma" and on ventilation support at the Intensive Care Unit of Kingsway Hospital in Nagpur in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.

"His (Captain Naushad) condition is severe…he is surviving with full ventilation support…he suffered brain hemorrhage and bleeding profusely…he remains unconscious," according to Assistant General Manager (AGM) of the Hospital Roshan Fulbandhe.

He said initially the pilot suffered cardiac arrest onboard the flight and after that he was shifted to the emergency ward of the hospital with "unresponsive and unconscious" condition.

The Dhaka-bound Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight from Muscat BG 022 made an emergency landing at Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport in Nagpur when pilot Captain Naushad Qayyum felt unwell onboard the plane.

29/08/21 Daily Star

More flight services to Europe on cards: CIAL

Kochi: The Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) has initiated discussions with major airlines to improve direct flight services to European countries. There is a huge demand for direct services to London and Frankfurt and efforts are on to lure airlines operators to launch direct services to these cities. 

As an initial step, CIAL has waived parking and landing fees for airlines operating in the European sector.

The airport handles around 1.85 lakh passengers in Kochi - Europe sector a year and on an average nearly 900 passengers transit through Kochi to European destinations. A survey conducted by CIAL in 2019 had revealed that the demand in the Kochi-Europe sector is set to rise and there is a huge potential for direct flight operations. There is demand for services in Kochi-US transit sector and Australia.

29/08/21 Aishwarya Prabhakaran/New Indian Express

India extends ban on international flights till Sept 30

In a recent travel update, the Indian government has extended its ban on scheduled international flights till September 30, 2021. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) made the announcement on Sunday that the COVID-induced passenger flights suspension has been extended till September end.

The DGCA further said, "However, international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case-to-case basis."

Apparently, the ban on international flights was supposed to end on August 31, 2021. International passenger flights were suspended in India on March 23, 2020 due to the pandemic. But the Indian government started the Vande Bharat Mission in May 2020 to help people stuck in other countries. India also established bilateral air bubbles with selected countries from July 2020.

DGCA further informed that dedicated cargo flights and flights under the bilateral air bubble pacts with select nations will continue to operate.

29/08/21 Times Travel

36-year-old man dies onboard Air India Express flight; autopsy report awaited

 Chennai: In a tragic incident, a 36-year-old passenger died onboard an Air India Express flight from Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur to Tiruchy on Saturday.

The passenger, identified as A Velmurugan, a native of Nariyapatti village in Pudukottai, was suffering from a variety of health conditions.

Velmurugan's fellow passengers found him motionless and immediately alerted the flight crew. The crew then notified the Tiruchy airport.

Sources said that the airport was alerted when the flight was 60 nautical miles from the airport.

A medical support team was on standby, and shortly after the plane touched down, the medical team rushed into the flight and declared Velmurugan dead on board.

His body was later shifted to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital in Tiruchy, where an autopsy is scheduled on Sunday.

29/08/21 Akshaya Nath/India Today

Saturday, August 28, 2021

Biman Bangladesh flight makes emergency landing at Nagpur airport after pilot suffers massive heart attack

Nagpur: An aircraft of Biman Bangladesh Airlines had to make an emergency landing at Nagpur airport on Friday morning after the pilot suffered a massive heart attack and collapsed in the cockpit.

“The co-pilot made the emergency landing of Muscat-Dhaka flight BG 022 of Biman Bangladesh Airlines around 11.40 am after the pilot, Captain Naushad, collapsed in the cockpit due to some health problem. He was rushed to a hospital here, where it was diagnosed that he had had a massive heart attack. He is in critical condition and is undergoing treatment…,” said Senior Airport Manager Abid Ruhi.

“There were 126 passengers, excluding the crew, on board. They are waiting for an alternative flight being arranged by the airline,” he added.

28/08/21 Indian Express


Vistara Officially Receives The All Clear For US Flights

Vistara has officially received the all-clear from the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) to conduct flights between the US and India. The DOT received no objections since grating tentative approval, which now means Vistara is all set to operate US flights as it sees fit.

On August 25th, Vistara received final approval from the DOT for a foreign air carrier permit. This allows the airline to conduct scheduled commercial flights between the US and India, carrying people, property, and mail. The DOT also allows the airline to fly cargo and charter flights between the US and India.

As long as Vistara complies with regulations put forward by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and DOT, it will retain its ability to provide international transportation services between the US and India. This includes meeting safety and security guidelines and complying with DOT regulations relating to passenger services and refunds, among others.

In early June, the DOT granted tentative approval for the airline to operate flights between the US and India. Vistara first applied for DOT permission to run US flights at the end of April.

Vistara had previously planned to start flights in September 2021. Given that this is only a few days away, it is unlikely that Vistara will be launching flights at this time.

Furthermore, the US still maintains an ongoing travel ban for foreign nationals coming from India. While there are exceptions for US citizens and their families, legal permanent residents, and students. Nevertheless, this is certainly not the best environment for Vistara to launch long-haul flying.

Furthermore, most nonessential travel to India is also barred. While there are some exemptions, entering India as a non-citizen is certainly not very easy at this point.

As a result, it makes a lot of sense for Vistara to hold off on adding US flights at this time. Some exceptions could be if Vistara gets lucrative access at some heavily competitive airports, where getting in now is key to building up a long-term position.

28/08/21 Jay Singh/Simple Flying

Flying to Maharashtra? Fresh Guidelines Issued For International Passengers

Mumbai: The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government has tightened the rules for international passengers flying into Mumbai and other airports of the state. As per the latest order issued by chief secretary Sitaram Kunte all international flyers, even those who have taken both the doses of vaccine required to hold an RT-PCR negative test not older than 72 hours. Till now, they (international flyers) had to follow two sets of entry guidelines— issued by the Centre as well as the state.

The fresh order by Kunte has also given relief to flyers arriving in the state from South Africa, European and middle east countries. Earlier, people coming from these nations will have to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine and RT-PCR tests, but now they will not be required to follow extra restrictions as they will be treated as any other international flyer.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra has reported 4,654 new coronavirus cases and 170 fresh deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the infection tally to 64,47,442 and the toll to 1,36,900. The official said 3,301 patients were discharged from hospitals across the state in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative number of recovered cases to 62,55,451. Maharashtra now has 51,574 active cases.

On the other hand, the Centre, ahead of upcoming festivals in Maharashtra, has advised the state to consider imposing local restrictions on these festivals and mass gatherings to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

In a letter to the Maharashtra chief secretary, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said even though the trajectory of daily new cases has shown a decline over the last month, there are some districts in Maharashtra which are showing early signs of an upsurge in COVID-19 cases and test positivity.

28/08/21 India.com

SriLankan Airlines’Trichy-Colombo service from Sept 2

Trichy: SriLankan Airlines will resume its services between Colombo and Trichy, which had been suspended for more than 18 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, from September 2. The airline said it will operate a weekly service on Thursdays. It had been operating 14 flights a week before suspending operations in the last week of March 2020.

According to airline sources, flight UL 131/132 would arrive in Trichy at 10 am and leave at 11 am every Thursday. In a statement to its trade partners, the airlines stated that it has resumed acceptance of passengers travelling on tourist visa from India. The protocol with guidelines of Covid-19 with a change in the approval process and quarantine measures for those travelling on tourist visa has been circulated and it should be strictly followed by the partners.

Accordingly, a negative RT-PCR test done within 72 hours of travel is mandatory for travellers age above 2 years who must also undergo a PCR test upon arrival at the destination. Though all international airlines suspended their service to Trichy amid pandemic, travel agents said this situation has created an opportunity for Trichy to handle several flights from various foreign destinations that had not yet started services.

28/08/21 Times of India

UP man recalls tense moments before evacuation from Kabul airport

Returning from Afghanistan, a man from the Bansdih area in Ballia thanked the Centre for his safe return and said the memories of Kabul still haunt him.

Rajesh Pandey, a resident of Chitrauli locality of Janpur Mudiyari Gram Panchayat of Bansdih Kotwali area of the district, returned to India from Afghanistan on August 23 but still has fear writ large on his face.

Talking to reporters, Pandey said he had given up hope of returning home alive after seeing the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.

"Many times it felt like I would not be able to return home. I am with my family today due to the efforts of the government," said Pandey, who had gone to Kabul on February 22 earlier in the year.

Pandey had gone to Kabul to work in a factory located eight kilometers from the Kabul airport.

"After the capture of Afghanistan by the Taliban, there was a state of anarchy. It took 10 hours to cover a distance of eight kilometers to reach the airport," he said, adding that the whole atmosphere was scary with bombings and firing taking place all around them.

28/08/21 NewsBytes

Afghan airspace very risky, warns pilot of aircraft hijacked to Kandhar in 1999

New Delhi: Captain Devi Sharan, a retired pilot of Air India whose plane IC-814 was hijacked to Kandahar in December 1999, said the Taliban, which has seized power in Kabul, can't be trusted as their ground fighters don't follow rules, and added that the movement of aircraft over Afghan airspace is very risky.

"There is a lot of grey area. We have to always monitor the corridor route which we are following because the Taliban government says something and somewhere down their forces are doing something else. In such a situation, entering Afghanistan's airspace is very risky. They can always shoot the aircraft down," Sharan told ANI.

Kabul was on Thursday rocked by terrorist attacks. The first blast was reported at the Kabul airport while the second one was near the Baron Hotel that killed 13 US troops and injured an additional 15 service members as well as numerous Afghan civilians.

Afghan health officials gave varying estimates of the toll at the international airport in Kabul, the capital -- from at least 30 dead to more than 60, and from 120 wounded to 140 -- while a Taliban spokesman cited at least 13 civilians killed and 60 wounded, reported The New York Times.

Captain Sharan showed confidence in the United States (US) Defense Forces controlling Air Traffic Control (ATC) in Kabul and Kandahar, saying that the voices of US forces would always give confidence to pilots when crossing Afghan airspace.

"I have operated many times over Afghanistan while flying to Europe and the USA. Whenever we used to hear the voice of air traffic controllers who were mainly American people, it used to give us a sense of security. We never felt the need to take an alternate route due to an emergency while we used to be en-route Kabul and Kandahar. We were quite comfortable if we had to land in Kabul or Kandahar in case of a technical emergency. We were quite satisfied with that because we used to listen to American traffic controllers on ATC," said Captain Devi.

Afghanistan has barred its airspace for all commercial flight operations since August 16 just after the Taliban took complete control of the war-torn country.

The pilot said that India should avoid any flight operations in the Afghanistan airspace till the government is assured of their safety.

"If our government and their government make sure that no untowardly incident will take place and everything is safe, then only we should resume air operations otherwise we should not take the risk," said the pilot of the hijacked flight IC-814.

27/08/21 ANI/New Indian Express

U.S. court sets timelines for Cairn-India legal case

A federal court in Washington has set timelines for responses to be filed to an Indian government petition seeking dismissal of a suit by Britain's Cairn Energy that sought enforcement of a $1.2 billion arbitral award.

Judge Richard J Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colombia has given Cairn time till September 10 to file a response to the government's 'Motion to Dismiss' petition.

Thereafter, the Indian government can file a reply in support of its motion by October 1.

This can be countered by Cairn by October 20 and a further two months have been granted to the Indian government to file its reply in support of its motion, according to an August 25 order of the court.

The British firm had in May asked the U.S. federal court to force Air India to pay the $1.26 billion arbitration award the firm had won in December.

The government on August 13 filed a 'Motion to Dismiss' petition saying the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction in the dispute between Cairn and the Indian tax authority.

The move came within days of the government enacting a legislation to scrap a tax rule that gave the tax department power to go 50 years back and slap capital gains levies wherever ownership had changed hands overseas but business assets were in India.

That rule had been used to levy a cumulative of ₹1.10 lakh crore of taxes on 17 entities, including ₹10,247 crore on Cairn.

Officials said rules for withdrawal of such tax demands are in the process of being framed.

27/08/21 PTI/The Hindu

India-Bangladesh Air Bubble Flights to Resume Next Week

Flights between India and Bangladesh under the bilateral air bubble arrangement will resume from September 3, according to the civil aviation ministry. With scheduled international passenger flights to and from India remaining suspended since March last year, India has entered into air bubble arrangements with various countries, including Bangladesh, for operating flights.

In a communication to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh on Saturday, the ministry said the air bubble can be restarted from September 3 till resumption of international passenger flights. Rajeev Jain, Additional Director General (Media & Communications) and spokesman for the civil aviation ministry confirmed that the flights will resume from September 3.

Domestic carriers — SpiceJet, IndiGo and Air India — will be operating flights to Dhaka. The pact with Bangladesh, which came into effect from October 28, 2020, was valid till March 27, 2021, wherein Indian and Bangladeshi carriers were permitted to operate services between the two countries.

28/08/21 PTI/News18.com

Bangladeshi Caught With Fake Passport

Ahmedabad : A Bangladesh national was caught by the immigration officials at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport with a fake Indian passport. He had arrived in an early morning flight from Kuwait on Friday.

As per immigration sources, the Bangladeshi identified as Samshur Rahman Jony (32) had arrived in the city on an Indigo airline flight on Friday morning. Rahman had approached the immigration officials for clearance and handed over his passport for scanning. The immigration officials raised suspicion about the passport, so they closely examined it. After thorough checking, it was found to be fake.

Rahman was on his way to Kolkata. The passport was issued in 2012 and the place of issue was mentioned as Chandigarh. Though earlier people with fake passports have been caught, Rahman’s passport had several high security features which are normally found in a real passport.

28/08/21 Ahmedabad Mirror

Friday, August 27, 2021

'Afghan Hindus allowed, not me,' says woman MP deported at Delhi airport, India expresses regret

New Delhi: A young woman Afghan MP was deported at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on Saturday after landing early in the morning. She had travelled to Delhi from Istanbul on August 20 for medical reasons but was not allowed out of the airport even though she was not travelling to India seeking refuge.

Rangina’s Kargar, a member of the Wolesi Jirga where she represents the Faryab province of Afghanistan, said that she was not allowed to enter the country despite holding a diplomatic/official passport which she had used many times in the past to travel to India.

The security officials held her at Delhi airport from 6 am when her flight landed till 10 pm when they deported her to Istanbul via the same Dubai route.

“There was no food, no water. They kept me waiting even when I told them that I was a Member of Parliament. Maybe because the situation has changed. Maybe for security reasons. But I want to tell India that we will return to power in Afghanistan, what will they do then,” said the miffed MP.

While the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) was initially not aware of the incident, Joint Secretary of Pakistan-Iran-Afghanistan division of the ministry, JP Singh, called her and apologised over the treatment meted out to her.

“After I was deported, a secretary from the ministry called me and said sorry about this action. He told me that if I ever need to come, I could just apply online for e-visa and it will be facilitated. But it is very expensive. My one-year-old daughter who I had applied a visa for before coming, still has not got the visa and it has been a week,” 36-year-old Kargar said.

“They deported me and I was treated like a criminal. I was not given my passport in Dubai. It was given back to me only in Istanbul,” she added.

Speaking of how Afghan Sikhs and Hindus have been treated as opposed to Afghan Muslims, she said, “We have historical ties, political and otherwise. Across the world, Europe and other nations have been providing asylum to Afghan people. I was not even seeking asylum but they didn’t allow me to enter India. Even if I was coming seeking refuge because of the changed situation in my country, they should have allowed me in but they didn’t even allow me for treatment.”

She added, “They accepted lawmakers like Anarkali and Narendra Singh Khalsa but they didn’t accept me. We have never seen such actions, discrimination before. This was the first time. They have divided us. They send private planes to evacuate Afghan Hindus and Sikhs but they didn’t accept me.”

27/08/21 Geeta Mohan/India Today

How a prolonged Afghan crisis could derail India-Central Asia connectivity

The weekly flight between Tashkent and Delhi took two-and-a-half hours to reach Delhi on August 10. The same flight took four hours and nine minutes on August 17. Kabul had fallen to the Talibani fighters and the airspace above Afghanistan was uncontrolled. As airline after airline decided to shun Afghan airspace over safety concerns, the flight on August 17 took a circuitous route, flying over Turkmenistan, Iran and Pakistan before entering Indian airspace. A normal route sees the airline operate over Afghanistan and Pakistan before entering Indian airspace.

This is the second time in two years that the airline has had to take a circuitous route; the first being in 2019, when Pakistan closed its airspace to flights originating and terminating in India after the Balakot strike by the Indian Air Force.

This year marks the thirtieth year of independence for former republics of the Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union disintegrated, a few of these five ‘stans’ from Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan) had a direct air link with New Delhi.

Successive governments from India have tried courting the governments in Central Asia but trade hasn’t grown by leaps and bounds. Most countries had a difficult visa regime and that meant even tourism was out of bounds. All of this had started to change recently. Indeed, pre-Covid-19, all the five ‘stans’ were connected to India, through flights operated by the airlines of the respective countries. No Indian carrier flew to any of these five countries.

27/08/21 Ameya Joshi/Moneycontrol

Thursday, August 26, 2021

NRIs relieved as Kuwait plans to resume direct flights

Mangaluru: The Kuwait government’s announcement on resuming direct flights from India has brought a sense of relief among Indian expatriates who are stranded here for many months. The direct flights were suspended nearly 18 months back. No official dates have been finalised for the resumption of flights. Kuwait’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) circular number 32, dated on Tuesday, stated resuming operations of commercial flights with India, Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal, with the adherence to protocols. Kuwait is likely to resume direct flights from India, starting in a phased manner.

Nelson Sandesh, who works in the food and beverage sector in Kuwait, had returned in February last year. A relieved Neslon said: “The company I work for is repeatedly calling me to return. I have my vaccine certificate approved by Kuwait, and was anxiously waiting for the flights to start.’’ There are many like him stranded here, and some of them have even lost their jobs.

DGCA’s circular number 33 stated that those who receive two doses of the vaccines approved by Kuwait, like Pfizer BioNTech, AstraZeneca/Oxford and Moderna, and a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, are allowed to enter Kuwait. Those who have received two doses of unapproved vaccines in Kuwait like Sinopharm, Sinovac and Sputnik, must have received at least one additional dose of one of the approved vaccines in Kuwait.

26/08/21 Kevin Mendonsa/Times of India

24 Indians en-route to Delhi from Afghanistan, Kabul airport on high alert

New Delhi: As many as 24 Indians, have been evacuated today from Afghanistan’s Kabul to Delhi via Indian Air Force flight, informed according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The ministry also informed that 11 Nepalese have also been evacuated along with the in the IAF flight.

Earlier on Tuesday, 78 people including 25 Indians were brought to Delhi via a special Air India flight. They were flown out of Kabul, which is now controlled by Taiban, to Dushanbe by an Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft.

Meanwhile as per reports, the United States, United Kingdom and Australian government warned its citizens in Afghanistan to avoid Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport due to an ongoing and high threat of terrorist attack. The government said that anyone in the area of the airport should move away to a safe location and await further advice. 1,500 Americans are yet to be evacuated from Afghanistan with less than a week left until deadline. Hence, the allies have begun winding up evacuations, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The alert comes amid growing concerns of terrorist and other security threats facing foreigners and Afghan civilians attempting to flee Afghanistan. The situation at the Kabul airport has remained tense ever since the Taliban fighters swept into Kabul without encountering any resistance, and gained full control over the Afghan capital within a few hours on August 15.

26/08/21 WCE7

IAF Aircraft With 35 Evacuees On Way To Delhi From Kabul

An Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft has departed from Kabul with 24 Indian and 11 Nepalese evacuees, said the External Affairs Ministry (MEA) on Thursday.

The flight will land at the Hindon airport here.

"Op Devi Shakti in action! @IAF_MCC flight with 24 Indian and 11 Nepalese evacuees from Kabul is on its way to Delhi," MEA spokesperson, Arindam Baghchi said on social media.

The rescue efforts from war torn Afghanistan have been named as Ops Devi Shakti by the government, which was announced by the External Affairs Minister, Dr S. Jaishanakar on August 24.

He has also commended the "vital" role being played by the IAF and other commercial flights including government owned Air India and MEA officials. 

India has continued the rescue operations from Kabul as well as from the neighbouring countries like Qatar, Doha and Tajikistan.

So far, it has evacuated over 800 people from Afghanistan which include some eminent Afghan nationals and two Members of Parliament from Sikh community. 

These evacuees have been brought to New Delhi via various routes such as Doha in Qatar, Dushanbe in Tajikistan and other neighbouring countries in special flights of Air India and some private carrier too.

Indian authorities are in touch with its missions in Tajikistan and Qatar to facilitate the evacuations and asked them to provide all support such as transport, stay and other necessary assistance.

26/08/21 Ahmedabad Mirror

Afghan MP says she was deported to Istanbul after arriving at Delhi airport

An Afghan MP, who flew from Istanbul to Delhi, has said that she was deported from the airport on August 20, The Indian Express reported on Thursday. The incident came days after the Taliban took control of Kabul on August 14.

Rangina Kargar, a member of the House of the People of Afghanistan, holds a diplomatic passport that allows visa-free travel under an arrangement with the government of India. Kargar, who represents the Faryab province and has been an MP for 10 years, told The Indian Express that she has travelled to India many times on the same passport.

The 36-year-old MP said that there were no problems for her to pass through the checks at the airport earlier but on August 20, the immigration officials stopped her. Kargar said that the official told her they needed to consult their superiors.

After this, she was sent back to Istanbul via Dubai on the same airline, Fly Dubai. “They deported me, I was treated as a criminal,” Kargar told The Indian Express. “I was not given my passport in Dubai. It was given back to me only in Istanbul.”

The MP said she was given no reason for her deportation. Kargar claimed that the deportation was “probably related to the changed political situation in Kabul, maybe security”.

“It was not good what they did to me,” she told The Indian Express. “The situation has changed in Kabul and I hope the Indian government helps Afghan women.”

A day before Kargar’s deportation, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said that India was focusing to maintain its relationship with Afghanistan. Two days after her deportation, India had brought back two Afghan Sikh MPs, Anarkali Kaur Honaryar and Narinder Singh Khalsa, from the conflict-torn country in an evacuation flight.

“Those flights were meant for Indians and Afghan Indians, not Afghans,” Kargar told The Indian Express.

Kargar was born in Mazar-e-Sharif town in 1985. She is not affiliated to any party and says she is a women’s rights activist, according to the newspaper.

On her deportation, Kargar said she did not expect this from Gandhi’s India. “We are always friends with India, we have strategic relations with India, we have historic relations with India,” the MP said. “But in this situation, they have treated a woman and a member of Parliament like this. They told me at the airport, “sorry, we cannot do anything for you”.”

Kargar said that she cannot return to Afghanistan as the situation has changed there and also because there were no flights to Kabul. She told the newspaper she will remain in Istanbul and wait for the Taliban to form the government and “see if they allow women to sit in Parliament”.

26/08/21 Scroll

Kuwait says no plans yet for resuming flights to India

Kuwait: Kuwait’s Directorate General of the Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday said that no date has been set for the resumption of commercial flights with India and five other countries amid continued COVID-19 restrictions, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported.

On August 18, 2021, the Kuwaiti government announced resuming flights with India, Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal, but the DGCA of Kuwait has denied a date was set for flight resumption, KUNA said.

DGCA head of air transport Abdullah Al Rajahi said operating plans that are in line with the current seat limits are still being prepared.

Since August 1, Kuwaiti citizens have been allowed to travel abroad only if they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The move was announced by the DGCA but only applies to those who have received one of the four approved vaccines in the country, including Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.

On August 23, the Kuwaiti government eased some restrictions related to the COVID-19 and allowed the resumption of many activities. Gatherings such as conferences and weddings remain off-limits to people who have not been vaccinated

26/08/21 Sakina Fatima/Siasat Daily

Wednesday, August 25, 2021

16 out of 78 Afghan evacuees who landed at IGI Airport test Covid positive

New Delhi: A total of sixteen out of 78 evacuees who landed at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport from Kabul on Tuesday has tested positive for Covid-19. The infected evacuees also include the three Sikhs who brought back with them Guru Granth Sahib from Afghanistan Gurdwaras.

Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and V. Muraleedharan received the Guru Granth sahib brought from Afghanistan at the Delhi airport from the Sikhs and came in contact of the infected people.

However, Union Ministers coming into contact with infected people have not been officially confirmed yet.

All the positive people have been admitted to LNJP Hospital and the rest are quarantined at an Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) camp in south-west Delhi's Chhawla.

All the evacuees coming from Afghanistan will have to undergo quarantine for 14 days at the ITBP quarantine centre at Chhawla in southwest Delhi, according to the guidelines of the Health Ministry.

All the evacuees coming from Afghanistan will have to undergo quarantine for 14 days at the ITBP quarantine centre at Chhawla in southwest Delhi, according to the guidelines of the Health Ministry.

25/08/21 Tribune

As India continues to run evacuation flights, many Afghanistan returnees test positive for COVID-19

As the Taliban took over Afghanistan, thousands from around the world have been left scrambling to evacuate. Over the last two weeks, there have been some rather horrific visuals that have gone viral - from stampede-like situations at Kabul airport to people falling off in mid-air after clinging to the wheels of a plane. Amid the frenzied events, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been relegated to the backburner.

A day after India brought back around 78 people including children, 16 evacuees have tested positive for COVID-19. According to reports, all of them are believed to be asymptomatic patients. The list of infected individuals include three granthis who carried the copies of the Sikh holy scriptures from Kabul to Delhi.

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had received the holy scriptures at the airport, sharing a video of him carrying a copy on his head. It is not clear whether the Central lawmakers and other politicians in attendance are quarantining themselves.

As a precautionary measure, all 78 individuals have been taken from Delhi airport to ITBP's Chhawla Camp. They will be undergoing a mandatory 14 day institutional quarantine.

25/08/21 FreePressJournal

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Papua New Guinea bans India flights in diplomatic spat over Covid breach

Papua New Guinea banned flights from India indefinitely on Tuesday and accused the South Asian country's diplomats of "deception" over apparent breaches to Covid-19 travel rules.

The Melanesian nation's top Covid-19 official said in an act of deliberate "deception" India's High Commission helped dozens of unauthorised travellers -- some Covid-positive -- to arrive in Papua New Guinea.

A repatriation charter flight from India arrived in Papua New Guinea via Indonesia early on Tuesday with 111 people on board, 30 more than the original number approved, according to officials.

The flight had been the subject of intense negotiations between officials in both countries and was rejected four times by Papua New Guinea over virus fears before an agreement was reached to allow 81 passengers to enter.

Police Commissioner David Manning said "India's High Commission in Port Moresby deliberately participated in the deception" to bring more than that number in.

"As a consequence of this deliberate show of disrespect against the people and Government of Papua New Guinea, there is now an indefinite ban on any further repatriation flights from India," he said.

Airline operators CapaJet and Garuda Indonesia were also banned from entering Papua New Guinea airspace "until further notice," he added.

The travellers were Papua New Guinean, Indian, and Indonesian nationals, with four testing positive for Covid-19.

24/08/21 AFP/Economic Times

Lockheed Martin bags $328m Indian contract to support C-130J aircraft fleet

New Delhi: Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $328.8 million, five-year contract from the Indian Air Force (IAF), to provide dedicated and comprehensive support for the IAF’s fleet of 12C-130J-30 Super Hercules Aircraft. Lockheed Martin is the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of these planes.

Through this Follow On Support II (FOS) contract, Lockheed Martin teams manage the programme, logistics and engineering support elements necessary to sustain the IAF’s C-130J fleet, informed an official release.

The contract spans a five-year period, is a Direct Commercial Sale, and is a continuation of a prior five-year FOS I contract where Lockheed Martin provided similar support for the IAF’s C-130J fleet.

“As the C-130 OEM, Lockheed Martin brings forth an outstanding team of experts who offer deep knowledge and unmatched insights of the C-130 to our operators,” said Rod McLean, vice president and general manager, Air Mobility and Maritime Missions, Lockheed Martin.

“It is an honour to continue to partner with the Indian Air Force to support one of the most active C-130J fleets in the world. Through an integrated team and dedicated support, Lockheed Martin ensures the IAF’s C-130J fleet is available and ready for every mission.”

The Government of India announced its purchase of six C-130J Super Hercules airlifters via a Foreign Military Sale with the US Air Force in 2008. All aircraft were delivered on or ahead of schedule between 2010 and 2011. India received additional C-130Js in 2017 and in 2019.

The IAF’s C-130J Super Hercules have a highly integrated and sophisticated configuration primarily designed to support India’s special operations requirement. The aircraft also are equipped with air-to-air receiver refuelling capability for extended range operations.

24/08/21 ANI/Gulf News

Hyd airport recommences flight services to Male

Hyderabad: GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL), on Sunday said it has recommenced direct flight services from Hyderabad to Male, Maldives. IndiGo flight 6E 8108 departed from Hyderabad airport at 2.20 pm (IST) and arrived at Maldives’ Velana International Airport at 4.30 pm (IST). Initially the flights will operate three times a week (Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday) and its frequency will increase to four times a week from October 15 (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday).

Commenting on the development, Pradeep Panicker, CEO, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, said, “This is an enticing vacation destination for vacation travelers from Hyderabad. Airlines have shown keen interest in adding new flight routes and connecting more exotic international destinations from the city of pearls.”

William Boulter, chief commercial officer, IndiGo said, “This new service will cater to the increased demand for international holiday travel demand from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. We are committed to providing an affordable, on-time, safe and hassle-free travel experience onboard our lean clean flying machine.”

23/08/21 Times of India


SriLankan Airlines to enhance connectivity between India and Sri Lanka from September

Mumbai: Sri Lankan national carrier SriLankan Airlines which currently operates a total of eight flights per week from the cities of Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore to Colombo will be increasing flight frequencies and adding new destinations from September 1, the airline said in a press statement issued on Tuesday.

The airline said will be resuming services between Colombo and Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Trivandrum and Cochin with flights once a week, whilst Hyderabad and New Delhi will be connected to Colombo with twice-weekly flights.

Further, the airlines’ operations out of Chennai and Mumbai will expand up to five times a week whilst its Bangalore-Colombo services will be enhanced to flights three times a week.

24/08/21 Manju V/Times of India

Air India Announces Flights to London From Chennai, Kolkata, Booking Begins Tomorrow

As the COVID situation in India has improved, the national carrier Air India has announced direct flights from Chennai to London, starting from Wednesday, August 25. “Fly non-stop from Chennai to London with Air India! Before you plan your travel, please ensure eligibility regarding entry into your destination”,  the national carrier said in a tweet. Besides, Air India has also announced non-stop flights from Kolkata to the United Kingdom’s capital, starting this Wednesday.

This comes as the UK government, earlier last week, updated its official travel advisory for India to reflect the country’s upgraded status under the COVID-19 based traffic light system, no longer advising against all but essential travel. India moved from the UK’s red list travel ban to amber list on August 8 and now the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) advisory has been updated to coincide with the easing of rules.

Under the amber list rules, fully vaccinated British nationals returning from India no longer need to be quarantined. But must arrange a pre-departure test while still in the country as well as a day two PCR test after returning home to the UK. To qualify as fully vaccinated, only UK, EU and US-approved vaccines are recognised and require passengers to have had their second vaccine injection two full weeks before you travel.

Other nationals, vaccinated abroad or unvaccinated, are required to self-isolate at their declared address on the compulsory passenger locator form. They are also required to get a pre-departure PCR test and another test on day two and day eight of their entry to the UK.

24/08/21 India.com

Start-up airline Hans Airways recruiting ahead of India flights' launch

A start-up UK airline has begun recruiting for crew to operate its services to India ahead of take-off later this year.

Hans Airways has linked up with Swiss company Resource Group to start taking on flight crews as it attempts to gain its UK Air Operator Certificate (AOC) later this year.

Using its UK subsidiary ContractAir, Resource Group will work alongside Hans Airways in hiring the Captains, First Officers and Training Captains required to fly its planned fleet of A330-200s.

Nathan Burkitt, director flight operations and crew training at Hans Airways, said: "This recruitment agreement is a well-timed development as we prepare to launch our direct non-stop flights to India later in 2021.

“It will allow the leadership team to focus on our launch preparations while at the same time filling the essential flight crew roles that we need."

The airline, which has had its application for its operating and route licences to serve India published by the UK Civil Aviation Authority, is continuing to make advances with regards to securing its AOC.

Mr Burkitt added: “We are getting ready for our proving flight in October as part of the process to obtain Hans Airways’ AOC.

“We have determined a planned launch date internally, and we will make an announcement once all regulatory requirements are complete.”

Hans Airways claims it plans to offer the ‘value for money’ approach adopted by low-cost carriers alongside the quality of service approach expected from traditional full-service, long-haul airlines.

24/08/21 Brett Gibbons/Wales Online

At Least 10 Evacuees from Afghanistan Test Covid-19 Positive at Delhi Airport

At least 10 evacuees from Afghanistan tested Covid-19 positive after their arrival at the Indira Gandhi International airport here on Tuesday, according to people coordinating evacuation efforts with the Indian government. An Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) official said 81 people, who arrived from Afghanistan on Monday and Tuesday, have been sent to the ITBP's quarantine facility at Chhawla in south-west Delhi.

According to an office memorandum issued by the Union Health Ministry on Monday, people arriving from Afghanistan have to undergo a mandatory minimum 14-day institutional quarantine at the ITBP facility. Any person testing positive or detected as symptomatic shall be shifted to dedicated Covid Care Centre or Covid hospital of NCT of Delhi, the memorandum read.

Kanv Bhalla, an entrepreneur coordinating rehabilitation efforts on behalf of New York-based philanthropist Mandeep Singh Sobti, said, All 78 people, who arrived from Kabul via Dushanbe, underwent Covid-testing at the IGI airport. Of them, around 10 have tested positive. Sobti and Paramjeet Singh Anand through their Sobti Foundation have been making efforts to rehabilitate these distressed Afghans in coordination with the government of India, Bhalla said.

Some people have tested positive for the infection. However, there is no clarity on their count, said Puneet Singh Chandhok, president of the Indian World Forum, an organisation coordinating evacuation efforts with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Air Force (IAF). Sources at the LNJP Hospital said two Indian nationals, who were among the people brought to India from Afghanistan, have been admitted to its Covid ward after testing positive. "These two patients are male and their condition is stable. They were brought to the LNJP Hospital yesterday," an official source told PTI.

24/08/21 PTI/News18.com

Evacuation from Afghanistan: Air India flight with 78 passengers en route to Delhi from Dushanbe

New Delhi: An Air India flight carrying 78 passengers, including 25 Indian citizens is en route to New Delhi from Tajikistan's Dushanbe in a safe evacuation from Afghanistan.

Taking to Twitter, ministry of external affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said evacuees were flown in from Kabul.

"Helping in the safe return from Afghanistan. AI 1956 en route to Delhi from Dushanbe carrying 78 passengers, including 25 Indian nationals. Evacuees were flown in from Kabul on an @IAF_MCC aircraft. @IndEmbDushanbe," tweeted Bagchi.

The passengers on board the flight shouted slogans like 'Wahe Guru ki Khalsa, Wahe Guru ki Fateh' for a safe return from Afghanistan.

Earlier, Indian authorities on Monday evacuated 75 Sikhs amid the deteriorating situation in war-torn Afghanistan.

24/08/21 ANI/Times of India


Afghanistan Crisis: Air India Flights Leave Luggage Behind Due To Extra Fuel Load

Air India, the flagship airline carrier, is now carrying passengers and their baggage to the United States on a constrained payload resulting in the airline leaving roughly 50 bags behind at the Delhi airport, says a report in Republic World. The constraint comes in the wake of the closure of the Afghanistan airspace.

The aircrafts Boeing 777 and 787 cover a journey to New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Newark and Washington from Delhi. The flight to San Francisco takes the eastern route, while the rest of the flights take the route that goes through Afghanistan, followed by Central Asia and Russia. However, due to the inaccessibility of the Afghan airspace, the flights are forced to take the southern route through Pakistan and Iran.

This has resulted in an extra usage of fuel. According to the officials, the airline now has to carry an additional 5-8 tonnes of fuel to complete the journey. The change in the route has reduced the baggage load of the airlines. The generally generous policy is now rigid and reduced to 25 Kg, along with a handbag for the economy cabin. However, students are allowed an extra third bag to carry with them.

The luggage that is left behind is being sent to passengers’ destinations on the next available flights. Many passengers took to social media to complain about their baggage issues as they claim that the Air India Customer Helpline is inactive and is not responding to their queries. However, according to the Republic World report, there is no official comment on the situation from the airline’s officials.

24/08/21 News18

Monday, August 23, 2021

Airlines await CAAB approval for flights to India

Bangladesh is able to run flights to India during the COVID-19 pandemic under the air bubble pact, but airlines have yet to receive approval to operate any flights to the neighbouring country.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, or CAAB, has, however, informed all airlines to make preparations to resume air travel on those routes.

“India has recently sent a letter to us expressing their interest in resuming flights from Bangladesh to India,” CAAB Chairman Md Mafidur Rahman told bdnews24.com. “We have also expressed our interest and informed them that, due to the coronavirus pandemic, flights will have to operate under health restrictions and a few other conditions. They have yet to respond on the matter.”

“We hope that flights between our Bangladesh and India will resume once both countries have agreed on these issues.”

In response to a question, he said: “CAAB has yet to approve flights to India from any airlines. We have not yet informed them when they can resume such flights. But we have told them to prepare for it. Those airlines that announced flight schedules before receiving our approval should not have done so.”

According to the air bubble pact, flights between India and Bangladesh would resume on Friday, Aug 20, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen had said on Aug 17.

The following day, state-run Biman Airlines announced in a press release that it would be running flights on the Dhaka-Delhi route starting on Sunday, with future flights scheduled for Sunday and Wednesday. They also said that flights would also operate three days a week along the Dhaka-Kolkata route – on Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

22/08/21 bdnews24.com

Why the Army ALH MK-4 ‘Rudra’ crash at Pathankot needs a thorough investigation

About three weeks ago, on 3 August 2021, an Indian Army Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) went missing over the massive Ranjit Sagar reservoir near Pathankot. The news first broke on Twitter. A few videos of the lake with floating pieces of wreckage soon found their way to social media platforms. There was the usual one-sided brief circulated by defence PRO handles to select journalists. The ominous silence around the crash, with no periodic updates, kept aviation watchers guessing. Misinformation often fills voids in information.

The helicopter — a weapon system integrated (WSI) ALH Mk IV ‘Rudra’ ex-254 Army Aviation Squadron — has no role over water. It is not equipped with emergency floatation gear (EFG) nor would the crew require to wear life preservers — a standard feature for helicopters that routinely operate over water. Looking back, Lt Col AS Batth & young Capt Jayant Joshi had nothing going for them, materially or training-wise.

The initial images of splintered fuselage and twisted metal indicate a high-energy impact with water. If the helicopter had gone into water from hover, most parts of the fuselage would have been intact, with spinning main and tail rotor blades bearing the brunt of initial contact with water. It doesn’t seem to be the case here, putting to rest speculation based around some unverified eyewitness accounts that the helicopter was hovering with a “pipe” lowered into water. The WSI ALH was made to fill very niche roles. It has no rescue winch, no slithering boom, absolutely nothing that could be lowered or used in water.

23/08/21 Cdr KP Sanjeev Kumar/Print

Air India cancels flight to London from Kochi due to 'technical issues'

Kochi: An Air India flight to London from Kochi airport with 182 passengers was cancelled at the last minute on Sunday after reporting technical issues.

Air India AI 149  flight which was about to depart today at 1:20 pm when the technical issues were reported. The flight will now depart only on Monday morning, a statement by Cochin International Airport Ltd said. All the  182 pax were shifted to hotels. The airport gave further explanation.

The flight arrived from London's Heathrow airport Sunday morning at 3:05 hours. The direct flights from Kochi to London resumed last Wednesday when an Air India Dreamliner AI150 landed at Kochi airport with 221 passengers on board.

Air India planned to start three direct flights from August 22 (today) to London on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. The direct flights to London come after the United Kingdom moved India from its Red to Amber list, a categorization facilitating international travel during Covid time.

22/08/21 New Indian Express

Flights to India: Momen, Biman trade blame for confusion

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and Biman are at loggerheads over the confusion created over flight operations to and from India.

Both blamed each other for the mess.

The confusion arose after Momen on August 17 announced to the media that flight operations to India will resume from August 20. Biman subsequently issued a press release that said flights to Delhi and Kolkata will resume on August 22 (yesterday).

However, all these announcements were made without the approval of the Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB). 

Group Captain Chy M Zia Ul Kabir, member (Flight Standard & Regulations), CAAB, yesterday told The Daily Star they still haven't received a response from India about resuming flights after they, on August 4, sent a letter to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) of India, seeking its approval for flight resumptions from August 11 under the air bubble agreement.

After Biman's announcement, many passengers bought their tickets to India and those currently in India bought their tickets to return home. These passengers are now uncertain as to when the flights will actually resume.

Meanwhile, aviation experts have criticised Biman's management for its unprofessional and imprudent handling of the matter and advised the national flag carrier to offer an apology to the passengers.

Speaking to The Daily Star yesterday over phone from South Africa's Pretoria, Foreign Minister Momen said he did not say that flights between India and Bangladesh will (definitely) resume from August 20.

23/08/21 Rashidul Hasan/Daily Star

IAF’s C-17 : Lifeline for the Indians and others waiting to be evacuated from Kabul

On Sunday morning C-17 heavy-lift military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) brought back 168 passengers. There were 107 Indian, 24 Afghan Sikhs and two Afghan senators on board. The families of Anarkali Honaryar and Narender Singh Khalsa were on board the special IAF flight.

The flight that had taken off from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul landed at the Hindon air base near Delhi. It was a special flight which was deployed for this mission and was closely coordinated by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) which has set up a 24×7 Special Afghanistan Cell.

According to reports these evacuees who arrived on board the special flight are going to stay at the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara. Many of them were actually staying in the safety of a Gurdwara in Kabul.

This is the second batch of Indians to be evacuated from Kabul in a week after Taliban took over Afghanistan, who had come on board C-17 Transport Aircraft of the IAF and had first landed in Gujarat for refueling before reaching Delhi.

There are no direct commercial flights to the war torn Afghanistan. Around 87 people were evacuated from Kabul and lifted to Dushanbe on board C-17 of IAF.

However those who wanted to come to India are now coming on board commercial flights from other countries including Dushanbe in Tajikistan and Doha in Qatar. There are three flights – Vistara, IndiGo and Air India carrying Indian passengers who had been evacuated from that country.

According to sources, two flights per day will be allowed to operate out of the Hamid Karzai International Airport to bring back those who want to come to India.

22/08/21 Huma Siddiqui/Financial Express

On board India's Kabul evacuation flight, 46 Afghan Sikhs, Hindus — and 3 copies of Guru Granth Sahib

Three Indian nationals carrying three Sri Guru Granth Sahib are among the 46 Afghan Hindus and Sikhs expected to arrive in India on Monday as part of India's evacuation mission in view of the deteriorating security situation in the Afghan capital Kabul.

Nearly 200 more Afghan Sikhs and Hindus are still stranded in Afghanistan, said Puneet Singh Chandhok, president of the Indian World Forum, an organisation coordinating the evacuation efforts with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Air Force (IAF).

“These people have taken shelter at the Karte Parwan Gurdwara in Kabul, which is close to the airport,” he added.

Announcing the evacuation flight, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri took to Twitter to say, “Three Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji are being escorted to the IAF aircraft at Kabul Airport. Forty-six Afghan Hindus and Sikhs along with stranded Indian nationals are blessed to return on the same flight.”

“Seventy-five people are on the flight. Three Guru Granth Sahib ji are also being brought to India,” Chandhok added.

Visuals surfaced of three Sikh men holding their holy books over their heads at the Kabul airport while waiting for the repatriation flight to arrive.

23/08/21 First Post

Small group of Indian officials coordinating evacuation mission at Kabul airport

New Delhi: A small group of Indian officials is coordinating the country's evacuation mission at the Kabul international airport amid continuing chaos and a challenging ground situation, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

The multi-agency group has been coordinating with the American officials handling security at the airport as well as other relevant authorities, they said.

India evacuated 200 people, including the Indian envoy and other staffers of its embassy in Kabul, in two C-17 heavy-lift transport aircraft of the IAF on Tuesday in view of the deteriorating security situation in the Afghan capital city. Kabul fell to the Taliban last Sunday.

It is not immediately clear when the multi-agency team was deployed at the Kabul airport.

On Monday last, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) set up a special Afghanistan cell to coordinate repatriation of Indians and handle related matters.

Sources said the cell received more than 2,000 phone calls and answered over 6,000 WhatsApp queries during the first five days of its operation. It replied to more than 1,200 e-mails during the period.

India on Sunday brought back 392 people, including two Afghan lawmakers, on three different flights as part of its mission to evacuate Indians and Afghan partners from Kabul.

A total of 168 people, including 107 Indians and 23 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, were flown from Kabul to the Hindon airbase near Delhi in a C-17 heavy-lift military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF).

23/08/21 Press Trust of India/India Today

India committed to safe return of its nationals from Afghanistan, says Union Minister Scindia

New Delhi: Indian government is committed to the safe returns of its nationals from Afghanistan, said Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia, as an Air India flight with 87 Indians evacuees from Kabul landed here on Sunday, August 22, 2021, via Tajikistan.

"From Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan @airindiain The aircraft reached New Delhi carrying 87 Indians. Under the guidance of strong-willed prime Minister Narendra Modi, Indian government is committed to ensuring the safe return of Indian nationals," Scindia tweeted.

The flight ferrying 87 Indians from Afghanistan's Kabul landed in Delhi early on Sunday. The Indians were taken to Tajikistan's capital of Dushanbe from Kabul on board a transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Saturday.

The minister also retweeted a video in which passengers being evacuated raised "Bharat Mata ki Jai" as the flight lifted off from Dushanbe airport.

India has so far evacuated around 300 people from Afghanistan including its ambassador and all other diplomats.

It has been evacuating its citizens along the Dushanbe, Tajikistan, and Qatar routes

India has been allowed to operate two flights per day from Kabul to evacuate its nationals stranded in Afghanistan, government sources told ANI.

The permission was granted by American and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces which have been controlling operations of the Hamid Karzai International Airport after the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban on August 15.

22/08/21 ANI/New Indian Express

2 Passengers From Afghanistan Flight to Delhi Test Covid Positive

New Delhi: Two passengers out of the 146 evacuated from Afghanistan on Monday tested positive for Covid-19 after landing in Delhi. “Two people coming from Afghanistan have been found COVID positive. They have been sent to LNJP (Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan) Hospital,” Rajendra Kumar, Sub Divisional Magistrate told news agency ANI. The infected were among the second batch of 146 Indian nationals evacuated in four different flights via Qatar’s capital Doha.

These passengers were evacuated from Afghanistan by NATO and American aircraft in view of the deteriorating security situation in the war-torn country. Out of the second batch of Indian evacuees, 104 people were brought back in a Vistara flight, 30 by a Qatar Airways flight and 11 of them returned by an Indigo flight, while one person returned by an Air India flight. 

India on Sunday brought back 392 people including two Afghan lawmakers and two Nepalese nationals in three different flights under the evacuation mission amid a continued scramble by various countries to rescue their citizens from Kabul.

23/08/21 India.com

Gissar Military Aerodrome — India’s first overseas base that came to the rescue in Afghan crisis

New Delhi: Gissar Military Aerodrome (GMA), India’s first overseas base operated along with Tajikistan and aimed at giving a strategic heft to their military operations and training, has come in handy in India’s effort to evacuate hundreds of its citizens and Afghans from Kabul, overrun by the Taliban since last Sunday.

The GMA, popularly known as the Ayni airbase named after the village Ayni, is just west of the Tajik capital Dushanbe. It has been administered by India along with Tajikistan for nearly two decades, sources in the defence and security establishment told ThePrint.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and former Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa had a key role in setting up the base, which was funded by the Ministry of External Affairs, sources said.

Though outside the public eye, the base has come under the spotlight because of the ongoing evacuation process from Afghanistan during which C-17 and C-130 J transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force besides an Air India aircraft have used the Tajikistan airbase, reported ANI.

A C-130 J aircraft, for instance, airlifted 87 Indians from Kabul and landed in Tajikistan. The evacuees were eventually picked up by an Air India flight that took off from the Ayni airbase and brought back to India.

Similarly, when India evacuated its embassy staff from Kabul along with stranded Indians on August 17, the C 17 was waiting at the GMA for clearance from the Americans to fly in and evacuate them. This was because the aircraft could not remain at the Kabul airport since it would have taken up the already scarce place on the tarmac, sources said.

The GMA is often confused with another Farkhor base. Farkhor in southern Tajikistan — near the border with northern Afghanistan — is a city where India ran a hospital in the 1990s.

It is at the same hospital that the powerful Afghan Tajik guerrilla leader, the late Ahmed Shah Masood of the Northern Alliance — which fought the Soviets and later the Taliban — was brought in for treatment after a suicide bomber blew himself up near him in 2001. However, the military doctors at the hospital could not save him despite all efforts.

23/08/21 Snehesh Alex Philip/Print

Rapid PCR test must, Air India Express asks UAE travellers to report six hours before departure

Air India Express has requested its passengers travelling to the UAE from India to be at the airport six hours before the departure time of flights for a mandatory Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test for coronavirus before flying.

"As per the entry requirement of the UAE, a rapid PCR test will be conducted for every passenger at the respective Indian departure airport,” the carrier said issued on August 23.

As per the airline, the test counters will start four hours before the departure time of flights. They would close two hours ahead of the departure, it said.

UAE has relaxed norms for Indian visitors. Indian passport holders, who have not been to the emirate in the last 14 days, can get tourist visas to the UAE, news agency PTI reported. The facility has been extended to Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Uganda, other than India, the news agency cited a Gulf News report as saying.

Earlier, only UAE citizens and transit passengers were allowed to fly to the country following COVID restrictions.

23/08/21 Moneycontrol

SL woman detained at Chennai airport with Indian passport

Chennai: Sanoka Sadanandan, who landed in Tamil Nadu in 2009 with a Sri Lankan passport, stayed with her uncle in Namakkal district. While she lost the passport the same year, she stayed back in India and got married to one Raja the next year and settled in Tiruppur.

While her parents visited her in 2015, Sanoka wanted to visit her parents in Sri Lanka and managed to get an Indian passport by submitting forged documents at Coimbatore and changed her spelling as Sanoha to avoid suspicion.

However, the immigrant officials secured her at the Chennai airport on Thursday and handed over to the Central Crime Branch sleuths. She was booked under Passport Act and three other sections of IPC. She was remanded.

22/08/21 DT Next

Delhi HC Directs Release of NRI Couple Detained at the Airport Pursuant to LOC

The Delhi High Court Monday directed the release of an NRI couple, residing in the United Kingdom, who were allegedly detained at the airport here upon their arrival pursuant to a look-out circular issued in an FIR registered in 2016. Justice Rekha Palli directed that subject to the couple filing an affidavit that they would not leave the country without prior notice to the court, no coercive steps would be taken against them on the basis of the LOC till the next date of hearing on October 8.

Consequently, the respondent and all other authorities at the Airport are directed to forthwith permit the petitioners to leave the airport, if detained in pursuance of the impugned Look-Out Circular, the judge said.

The court was informed that they were detained at the airport upon their arrival since Monday morning.

The court also issued notice on the plea of the couple challenging LOC and sought counter affidavits from the Centre and Delhi Police within three weeks. Counsel for the couple Chetan Lokur submitted that there was absolutely no justification for issuance of any LOC against his clients who are senior citizens and have been detained at the Indira Gandhi International Airport upon their arrival since Monday morning.

The petition alleged that the couple came to know about the LOC at the time of their arrival and were detained without food, water, or access to the medicines, which irrespective of the LOC is a grave and serious violation of the fundamental rights of the petitioners.

23/08/21 PTI/News18.com

Sunday, August 22, 2021

Afghan crisis forces Air India to shed passenger luggage at Delhi airport

Mumbai: Air India is leaving behind some 50 bags at the Delhi airport as it flies to the US, reducing what it carries after the closure of Afghanistan’s airspace increased flight time by at least 30 minutes.

Air India flies the Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft to New York, Newark, Chicago, Washington and San Francisco. While the San Francisco flight takes the eastern routes, the other four usually cross Afghanistan into Central Asia and Russia. After the Afghan airspace closed on August 16, Air India's Europe and US bound flights are taking a southern route via Pakistan and Iran into Central Asia.

Air India is uplifting an additional 5-8 tonnes of fuel due to change in route. This has led to payload restriction, contributing to the airline’s reason to leave passenger behind bags and cargo at Delhi. The problem is acute on the Chicago route, which has a longer flying time than New York and Newark.

Along with the changed route, Air India's generous baggage policy has become a challenge for the airline. It allows two bags of 23 kg for economy class passengers and students are allowed a free third bag.

Passengers have taken to Twitter and other social media platform to complain about their luggage. Students are troubled as they carry household items for their new residences abroad. Some passengers complained that there was no response from Air India’s customer care number.

22/08/21 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

Afghanistan MPs Evacuated From Kabul In Air India Flight

Air India's first commercial flight carrying 87 stranded Indians from Afghanistan landed in New Delhi on Sunday amid the Afghan crisis. The flight also successfully managed to evacuate two Afghanistan leaders- Afghan Senator Anarkali Honaryar and Afghan MP Narender Singh from the war-torn nation.

Thanking the Indian government, Indian Air Force and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Afghan MPs lauded India for standing by them during this time of crisis. The IAF had first flown the stranded citizens from Kabul to Tajikistan on Saturday afternoon. They were brought back to Delhi on an Air India flight at around 2 AM on Sunday. Around 23 Indian Sikhs are said to be a part of the evacuation operation. 

After arriving in Delhi,  Afghan Senator Anarkali Honaryar said, "Thank you very much Government of India, Modi ji, Indian Air Force for airlifting me from Kabul and saving my life." 

Afghan MP Narender Singh said, "I want to thank the Indian government, Modi ji and Indian Airforce. During times of crisis, they helped us get out. They saved us from death and brought us here. They have always stood by us and I hope we can get more people out from Afghanistan." 

In the visuals shared by the MEA on Twitter, the citizens who were evacuated were seen raising slogans of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' after landing. Two Nepalese nationals were also a part of the evacuation from Hamad International Airport, as per reports.

Amid the Taliban takeover, India has been expanding its efforts to evacuate citizens from the war-torn nation. On Saturday, news agency ANI reported that American and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces permitted India to expand its evacuation measures in order to retreat its nationals. The security forces that are monitoring the evacuation procedures have allowed two Indian planes to take off and land at the Kabul airport, under American security protection. NATO forces guarding the Kabul airport are currently operating a total of 25 flights as they work on evacuating their citizens, weaponry, and equipment. 

22/08/21 Ananya Varma/RepublicWorld

Kabul evacuations: Several Indians return to home country from many destinations

New Delhi: Through various destinations and flights, numerous Indians have returned to home country on Sunday morning after being evacuated from Afghanistan.  

On Sunday, India evacuated around 168 people including 107 Indians from Kabul in a IAF aircraft. In a tweet earlier, Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson, India's Ministry of External Affairs, said, “Evacuation continues! IAF special repatriation flight with 168 passengers onboard, including 107 Indian nationals, is on its way to Delhi from Kabul.” India also brought back an infant 'Baby Divi' in the flight from Kabul.

As per people familiar with the development, an Air India flight carrying 87 Indians arrived in New Delhi on Sunday morning. It had departed from Tajikistan. "Bringing Indians home from Afghanistan! AI 1956 carrying 87 Indians departs from Tajikistan for New Delhi. Two Nepalese nationals also evacuated. Assisted and supported by our Embassy in Dushanbe. More evacuation flights to follow," Bagchi had shared.   

Meanwhile, the first batch of 135 Indians, who were evacuated from Kabul to Doha in last few days, have also returned to India. The Indian Embassy in Qatar on Sunday had tweeted, "1st batch of 135 Indians, who were evacuated from Kabul to Doha over past days, being repatriated tonight to India. Embassy officials provided consular and logistics assistance to ensure their safe return. We thank Qatar authorities and all concerned for making this possible."

22/08/21 WION

Saturday, August 21, 2021

IAF, Air India Lauded by Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia For Evacuating Kabul Embassy Staff

New Delhi: Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday lauded the efforts of the national carrier Air India and Indian Air Force (IAF) in bringing back the Indian citizens from Afghanistan's capital city Kabul after the Taliban took over.

"We operated flights to Kabul every day but after Afghanistan airspace's closure, Indian Air Force's C130 Hercules Globemaster aircraft flew to Kabul to bring back our citizens to the country. These flights are operating to bring back our people safely. Every day we are getting 130-150 Indians safely back to the country," he said during the virtual inauguration of IndiGo flight from Jabalpur to New Delhi.

In an effort to safely evacuate Indian citizens from Afghanistan, after the Taliban attempted to take control and seized the presidential palace, Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft which was carrying 120 people, including the Indian ambassador and embassy staff, from Afghanistan had landed in Gujarat's Jamnagar on Tuesday.

Two IAF transport aircraft later landed at Hindan airbase in Ghaziabad with people who were evacuated from Kabul to Jamnagar. The IAF had sent additional C-130J Super Hercules aircraft to Jamnagar to bring passengers to Delhi.

Throwing light on that evacuation, the Union Minister said, "Every day such flights are operating to bring back our citizens. It is our aim that every citizen is able to benefit from this facility."

20/08/21 ANI/NDTV


Indians with travel plans to Canada struggling with norm to take RTPCR test in third country

New Delhi: A flight from India to Dubai, over nine hours layover to take next flight to Barcelona, two hours for next flight to Mexico, two days' stay in Mexico to take a an RT-PCR test and ultimately a flight to Vancouver, is all what 19-year-old Lareina Kumar had to do to arrive at the university of her dreams in Canada.

Kumar's trip to four countries is not part of a tourism itinerary, but she did not have a choice as Canada has restricted direct flights from India in view of the Covid-19 situation during second wave.

With the consecutive extension of the ban on direct flights, the only way for Indian students who have got admission to Canada varsities is to take a connecting flight to Canada, where they will have to obtain a negative RT-PCR certificate from a third country.

That third country has to be on the approved list of Canada.

The students and parents are demanding that the issue of Indian RT-PCR tests not being accepted should be taken up by India with the Canadian government, saying the current procedure is not only inconvenient but also highly expensive.

While Kumar had her travel sorted by spending over Rs 5 lakh on a trip that would usually cost less than Rs 1.5 lakh, several others like her are still figuring out their way around the possible route to take, the excessive expenditure involved and the uncertainty.

21/08/21 Tribune

Afghan airspace closure adds to Covid woes for US-bound Indian passengers

New Delhi: Priya Singh (name changed), who will join a college in the United States, was all set to fly from Delhi to the US next week. She was on a code share flight to Europe and then a connecting flight from there. But suddenly she was informed that the seat was no longer available.

The US-bound travellers from India, especially students like Priya, have already been facing problems due to the Covid-19 restrictions, but closure of Afghan airspace for commercial flights has added to their woes this fall.

Given limited airline capacity during the pandemic, a number of people who bought United Airlines tickets were booked on code share flights of European airlines to fly one-stop to the US from there.

Since Afghanistan air space was closed for non-defence aircraft on Monday, Air India, Vistara and European carriers are taking a longer route between India and Europe overflying Iran en route. However as per Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, flights by the US airlines — including their code share ones — can’t overfly Iran, say people in the know.

As a result, passengers booked on United and supposed to travel on code share EU carriers overflying Iranian airspace are being told that their confirmed seats are no longer available or the concerned flight is cancelled.

A United spokesperson tells TOI the routings for their India flights are the only ones impacted. “Due to the dynamic nature of the situation, we have begun routing affected flights around Afghanistan airspace. We will continue to work closely with the FAA and IATA to evaluate the situation and determine how we continue service to markets impacted.”

20/08/21 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India


No Bangladesh-Kolkata flights now

The flights between Bangladesh-Kolkata that were to resume on Sunday have been called off as an agreement on the resumption of flights could not be reached between the aviation authorities.

"We had scheduled the resumption of flights from Sunday with the other two weekly services on Tuesday and Thursday. But we have not received permission from Indian authorities. Once an agreement is signed, we will announce the new dates," a Biman Bangladesh official said, report Times of India.

Indian airlines SpiceJet and IndiGo flights that were also scheduled to resume will now be cancelled. While SpiceJet was supposed to start services on August 26, IndiGo was to start flights the next day.

Bangladesh Biman on Wednesday formally announced flights to Kolkata and Delhi from August 22. Biman Managing Director and CEO Dr Abu Saleh Mostafa Kamal said that they are yet to get any directions from Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (Caab) to resume flights with India.

Asked about Biman's announcement of resuming flights to India from August 22, he said, "Like other airlines of the country, we have announced this as part of our preparations to operate flights."

Bangladesh suspended all international flights to and from Bangladesh on April 14 after the start of the second wave of coronavirus in the country. After being closed for 16 days, operation of international flights resumed from May 1 except for 12 countries including India.

21/08/21 Business Standard

IAF plane takes off from Kabul with around 90 Indians, more evacuations planned

New Delhi: An aircraft of the Indian Air Force flew out of Kabul with around 90 Indians on Saturday, while more evacuations to bring back Indians are being worked out, sources said.

They said a C-130J transport plane took off from Kabul with the evacuees.

An Indian Air Force official told UNI more rescue missions are being planned, but refused to divulge details owing to the sensitive nature of the evacuation operations.

India evacuated around 129 Indian and Afghan nationals through an Air India flight on Sunday night, after the Taliban entered Kabul. Later, as commercial aircraft were disallowed at the Kabul airport, two C-17 planes of the IAF evacuated around 180 people, including Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Rudrendra Tandon.

Taliban entered Kabul on Sunday and took over the Afghan capital, after which President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.

21/08/21 UNI

'I was at the airport, saw bodies falling from plane'

9/11 had the Falling Man, Kabul 2021 will perhaps always be remembered by the "falling men", two young Afghans desperate for freedom and life clinging on to a plane that has taken off and eventually plunging hundreds of feet below to their death. In videos that have by now been circulated the world over, shocked men and women on the ground can be heard sending out a prayer to god. Ajay Chettri from Dehradun was one of them. He witnessed the nightmare unfold right in front of his eyes.

Chhetri, a former Armyman who was evacuated from Afghanistan on August 17 on an Indian Air Force (IAF) plane, told on Friday that he is still traumatised by what he saw at the Kabul airport as he frantically scurried to leave the city that was his home for over a decade.

On August 16, after the Taliban's capture of Afghanistan's capital, Chhetri, who worked as a security officer there, had "packed up his life" in Kabul and like hundreds of others reached the airport.

"I was at the military airbase which is next to the airport when I heard gunshots. Bullets were flying all around. It was complete chaos. But that wasn't the worst part," said Chhetri, now in Dehradun with his family.

"What I will never forget is how people were running on the tarmac alongside the US cargo planes that were taking off, carrying hundreds of Afghans. One of the planes had left the ground but people were still clinging to its wheel. A little later, I saw two bodies drop down from the sky. It was horrific and I couldn't take it any more," said Chhetri.

The 60-year-old, who was accompanied by his sister-in-law, Savita Shahi, decided to turn back from the airport and take shelter in a NATO camp, a few metres away. Shahi, who worked as an assistant to a US medical team in Kabul, contacted the Indian embassy in Afghanistan and found that an IAF plane was scheduled to leave the city the next day with diplomats and embassy staff.

"On our request, the embassy officials agreed to adjust five of us on the flight home, but two more Indians joined us later and they were also accommodated in the rescue flight," she said.

21/08/21 Times of India

Indians detained on way to Kabul airport; Released subsequently: Reports

New Delhi: A group of Indian nationals is learnt to have been stopped and taken to an unknown location near the Kabul airport on Saturday for questioning and verification of travel documents, triggering some confusion and concerns in India.

These Indians were learnt to have been released subsequently.

The Indians were among 150 people who were heading towards the Kabul airport when they were stopped by Taliban fighters, according to Afghan media reports.

The Indians were learnt to have been released subsequently.

People tracking the developments in Kabul said there were no specific reports of any harm to Indians in Kabul so far.

The Indians were among 150 people who were heading towards the Kabul airport when they were stopped by Taliban fighters, according to Afghan media reports.

Kabul Now news portal initially reported that the group was “abducted” by the Taliban fighters but it later updated the report saying all the people were released and on their way back to the Kabul airport.

21/08/21 PTI/Indian Express

US forces in control of Kabul airport allow India to operate two flights daily for evacuation

New Delhi: India has been allowed to operate two flights per day to evacuate its citizens from Kabul in Afghanistan, government sources told India Today. US security forces have been in control of the Hamid Karzai international airport in Kabul since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan on August 15.

Government sources added that NATO forces in control of the Kabul airport are operating as many as 25 flights each day to evacuate their citizens, weaponry and equipment from Afghanistan.

There are still more than 300 Indian citizens in Afghanistan.

India has been evacuating its citizens along the Dushanbe, Tajikistan, and Qatar routes. An Air India flight from Kabul with around 90 passengers is expected to land in New Delhi sometime today or tomorrow.

Earlier this week, the Indian Air Force (IAF) operated a special flight to evacuate 120 Indian citizens, including the Ambassador to Afghanistan and embassy staff.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has been dealing with officials on the ground to negotiate the safe passage of Indian citizens to the Kabul airport complex.

In a security alert on Saturday, the US embassy in Kabul advised American citizens not to travel to the Hamid Karzai International airport.

21/08/21 Manjeet Negi/India Today

Dubai travel: 14-day visa on arrival for Indian visitors with US, UK or EU visas

Diubai: Indian citizens travelling to India via Dubai can obtain a visa on arrival in the emirate, provided they meet certain conditions, according to Emirates airline.

The visa — which will grant them a maximum stay of 14 days in Dubai — can be obtained if they:

> have a visitor visa or a green card issued by the United States, or

> have a residence visa issued by the United Kingdom or European Union.

The visa issued by the United States, United Kingdom or European Union has to be valid for a minimum of six months, the airline added on its website.

Passengers travelling to Dubai must hold a negative Covid19 RTPCR test certificate with a validity of no more than 72 hours or 48 hours before departure, depending on the point of origin.

The PCR test certificates must be issued by an authorised facility in the passenger's departure country. Certificates that have already been presented for travel to another destination cannot be used for reentry even if they are still within the validity period.

21/08/21 Khaleej Times

Friday, August 20, 2021

Afghanistan: 'Same scene 20 years apart,' says pilot of hijacked IC 814

As the Taliban took over Afghanistan, Devi Sharan, Captain of the Air India flight IC 814, which was hijacked in December 1999 by the Taliban in Kandahar, said there was no change in the visuals (as seen on television) of Afghanistan now from what he could recall seeing through the cockpit of the hijacked flight during that time.

Speaking to ANI, Sharan said, "I do not think that there is much difference in 20 years. The only difference is that maybe now they seem to be a little educated. People, who had surrounded our aircraft, were not polished."

Expressing his views on the recent press conference by the Taliban, Sharan said: "The kind of behaviour we faced 20 years back, it is difficult to believe how the future will be. But definitely, we had a very bad time in Kandahar."

Giving a slew of assurances on issues ranging from women's rights and safety of Afghan nationals who worked with foreign troops, the Taliban on Tuesday "pledged" that the Islamic emirate in Afghanistan will not pose a threat to any country.

Recalling the situation 20 years back, he said: "They are roaming around in open jeeps with rocket launchers on Kabul streets, just like they did when they were surrounding our aircraft in Kandahar. It was as if nothing has changed."

"That time they were not listening to us. Their only motive was that their demands were fulfilled. We knew that we cannot come out from the situation without accepting their demands."

The captain also lauded the crew of the last Kabul-Delhi Air India flight.

"It is a very good job by all the crew members, operating a flight in such conditions...It is commendable that in such an environment, they operated the flight," he said.

Air India flight AI 244 carrying 129 passengers from Afghanistan's capital Kabul landed in Delhi on August 15.

20/08/21 ANI/Business Standard

Bangladesh-India flights in limbo

Although the foreign minister recently said flights with India will resume today, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, US-Bangla and Novoair said they are yet to get any direction from Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) in this regard.

CAAB on the other hand said they are yet to get any formal reply from India about resuming flights.

Amid this situation, several hundred Bangladeshis, most of whom went to India for medical purposes, remained in uncertainty about returning to the country by air. Many Bangladeshis waiting for a long time to go to India for treatment are also in limbo.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday said operation of flights between Bangladesh and India will resume today.

He said India had agreed to resume on Bangladesh's request, considering demands of facilitating movement of passengers and goods.

CAAB on August 4 sent a letter to India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation, seeking its approval for resumption on August 11, under an air-bubble agreement.

Air-bubble agreements are arrangements between two countries that allow carriers of both nations to fly passengers either way without restrictions.

"But we are yet to get any reply from our Indian counterpart about the letter. That's why it's hard for us to say right now whether flights will resume from tomorrow [today]," Group Captain Chy M Zia Ul Kabir, member (flight standard and regulations) of CAAB, told The Daily Star.

Biman on Wednesday formally announced plans to operate flights to Kolkata and Delhi from August 22, without mentioning anything about directions to do so.

20/08/21 Rashidul Hasan/Daily Star

Thursday, August 19, 2021

IndiGo to resume flights to Dubai from early Friday morning

IndiGo today said it will resume flights to Dubai from early Friday morning after a brief ban by Dubai authorities.

“IndiGo will recommence flight operations between India and UAE from 0130 IST (2000 UTC) tonight. We have informed all our passengers and any inconvenience caused is regretted,” the airline said in a statement.

The ban was imposed after it carried a passenger to the city state without the mandatory RT-PCR negative test report. The ban, which started on and from August 17th, has led to cancellation of various flights to Dubai.

This would be one of those rare instances, since COVID impacted travel, that an Indian airline has been banned by a foreign country for allowing a passenger without an RT-PCR test. Earlier, Indian airlines have been reprimanded by a foreign country after a large number of passengers tested negative upon arrival. All passengers in the above case had boarded the flight upon showing a COVID negative certificate.

The impact of this ban was not much, as the UAE has not yet allowed all categories of passengers from India. Presently, UAE residents, students, educators, and others that include transit passengers can return to the country or use the Dubai airport.

19/08/21 Economic Times