NEW DELHI: The Centre on Tuesday said some countries were yet to remove restrictions on the entry of Indians and it was ready to fly passengers to these countries whenever they ease their limits. Currently, Saudi Arabia is among the countries that are not allowing airlines to fly passengers from India amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are operating international flights under the VBM (Vande Bharat Mission) since May 6, 2020.
However, some countries, including some in the Gulf region, have still not removed restrictions on the entry of Indian nationals,” tweeted Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
“We are ready to fly passengers to these countries whenever they ease restrictions,” he added. Earlier, the ministry had said that the average fares on special flights operating between Kerala and Bahrain are between Rs 30,000 and Rs 39,000 as the Gulf country allows only 750 passengers to come from India per week. Scheduled international flights have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the pandemic.
However, special international flights have been operating under the VBM since May.
Puri hits out at Rahul over airports lease issue
Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri Civil has hit back at Rahul Gandhi for his criticism of the leasing of airports to a private player, asking the Congress leader if he stands for or against development. The minister also reminded the former Congress chief that the UPA government had also privatised Delhi and Mumbai airports.