Air India ferries over 250 as UK-India flights resume

Flight services between the UK and India recommenced on Friday, with national carrier Air India flying in over 250 passengers from that country.

An AI-112 flight landed at Delhi’s IGI Airport from the UK. The special flights would be operated under strict supervision.

As per the latest government guidelines, all passengers arriving from the UK would have to undergo mandatory RT-PCR test in the UK as well as in India.

In a tweet, the Delhi airport said: “Passengers are advised to maintain a gap of minimum 10 hours between their international flights’ estimated time of arrival and the connecting domestic flights’ time of departure.”

Last week, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said flight services between India and UK will resume from January 6, while those from UK to India will recommence from January 8.

These services were suspended in December to stop the spread of a mutant Covid-19 strain which was recently discovered in the UK.

At present, this schedule is valid till January 23, 2021. Further frequencies will be determined after review.

Several countries, including India, had suspended flight services to the UK in the wake of the new mutant Covid-19 strain. The suspension commenced with effect from 11.59 p.m. on December 22.

The initial decision was to suspend flights till December 31. However, in the wake of increasing cases of the new strain, it was decided to extend the temporary suspension of flights to and from the UK till January 7.

Prior to the suspension, over 60 flights per week were being operated between UK and India.

Airlines such as Vistara, Air India, Virgin Atlantic and British Airways operate flights between the two countries.