In view of the incessant surge in daily COVID-19 cases from the last month and the cases reaching an all-time high, several countries are imposing a travel ban to and from India.
This includes some of the middle eastern countries announcing restrictions on travel to and from India.
While Saudi Arabia and Oman have announced a ban on flights from India, Dubai has issued a travel advisory.
Saudi Arabia:
The travel ban that was imposed by Saudi Arabia in the month of December is scheduled to be lifted on May 17. However, Saudi Arabian Airlines may not resume flights to or from 20 countries including India due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
Oman:
Oman on Wednesday has announced it will suspend travel from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, where cases of the COVID-19 continue to surge over the past couple of weeks. The ban will come into effect from April 24.
Dubai:
Indian airlines on Monday announced the passengers traveling from India-Dubai must present a valid negative COVID-19 RT-PCR test certificate should be issued within 48 hours instead of 72 hours before departure from April 22.
India announced the suspension of all scheduled international flights in March last year and no formal operations have been launched since then. Meanwhile, India launched the world’s largest repatriation campaign under Mission Vande Bharat.
With the COVID-19 situation showing signs of easing out in India and other parts of the world, the Indian government announced ‘Air Bubble’ agreements with various countries to facilitate international travel.
In all, India struck air bubble deals with 27 countries (as of now) Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Maldives, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Ukraine, UAE, United Kingdom, United States, and Uzbekistan.
Ever since the second wave has increased the caseload of COVID-19 patients, many countries have announced bans on flights from India.
As of now, Oman, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Pakistan, and the UK have imposed travel restrictions on India. These restrictions are not of the same nature as before.
Singapore, Dubai and the US have issued advisory guidelines for cautioning the people against the deadly virus.