Explained: Restarting international air travel; the concept of ‘air bridges’ and ‘bubbles’

A decision on restarting international flights might not entirely be India's call, given that this depends mostly on the destination country’s assessment of India being safe and consequent permissions that need to be issued to Indian carriers to fly to their airports.




Hours after the Home Ministry announced fresh guidelines pertaining to the countrywide lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic, India’s aviation regulator DGCA said the suspension of scheduled international commercial passenger flights will continue till midnight on June 30. “It is once again reiterated that foreign airlines shall be suitably informed about the opening of their operations to or from India in due course,” the circular issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.

When will India allow regular International flights?

Domestic passenger flight services resumed in the country from Monday after a hiatus of two months since the lockdown was announced on March 25, when all scheduled commercial passenger flights were suspended in India. International air travel shall remain suspended, the MHA order said, adding that a decision on when to resume it would be taken after making an assessment of the situation.

But a decision on the timing might not entirely be India’s call, given that this depends mostly on the destination country’s assessment of India being safe and consequent permissions that need to be issued to Indian carriers to fly to their airports. And that’s where India could be at the far end of the pecking order as the Covid-19 cases in India continue to be on an upswing, even as they’ve peaked or are coming down in other geographies. Also, since the post-COVID resumption pattern could hinge entirely on the power of discretion with countries and their aviation regulators.

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Have other countries allowed international flights?

A number of countries within Europe have announced opening up of borders for intra-Europe travel June 15 onwards, which will enable air travel including for leisure purposes. Countries like Sweden, the UK, Ireland, The Netherlands, and Slovenia have opened borders to EU tourists, while those like Germany, Hungary, Romania, Finland have opened up partially. Consequently, airlines such as Lufthansa has announced 3,600 weekly flights in June. Furthermore, Lufthansa, as well as its group airlines SWISS and Eurowings are likely to operate 70 overseas flights, too.

However, it may be preemptive on part of the airlines given that the European Union is yet to take a call on whether it will reopen its external borders on June 15. In Asia, Qatar Airways has said it plans to grow its network back to over 50 destinations before mid-June, including the resumption of services to Manila, Amman and Nairobi. The Doha-based airline has also said that by end of this month, it hopes to connect 80 destinations, including 23 in Europe, four in the Americas, 20 in the Middle East/Africa and 33 in Asia-Pacific.

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How would the opening up of international routes happen?

While quarantining and testing of passengers are measures that have universal appeal, there is already talk of “bubbles” or “air bridges” joining jurisdictions that have largely eliminated the virus and trust in each other’s testing and case numbers.

According to The Economist, Australia and New Zealand could lead the way with a proposed “Covid-safe travel zone”, or the trans-Tasman bubble. Small countries in the Pacific including Fiji and the Cook Islands, which have kept the virus at bay, could join in, with the zone being expanded to other jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan. incidentally, Taiwan is working with Stanford University, as first reported by the Financial Times, to create a “safe-travel protocol”, under which some 500 “human guinea pigs” will travel from San Francisco to Taipei.


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Passengers are to be tested before a preflight period of quarantine and they will then be tested every two days in quarantine after they land. The aim is to find the shortest safe quarantine period for brief business trips, instead of the 14-day prescription in vogue currently.

For Indian travellers to fly abroad, a lot depends on the trajectory of the pandemic in the country and on how regulators, DGCA as well as international regulators, certify the opening of their flight operations to or from India in the coming months.

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