Corporate Newsletter January 2022

We wish you a very happy New Year filled with bucket-list travel adventures. Even though the year has started on a sombre note with the onslaught of the 3rd wave, the overall mood is upbeat to travel in the summers. In our first Travel Updates edition of 2022, we bring you the news of Indigo getting into a code share agreement with Air France-KLM, British Airways and Qatar extending their joint business operations, Air India commencing direct flights between Mumbai and Frankfurt, UK scrapping pre departure RT-PCR testing and more.

News at a Glance:

New guidelines for international arrivals into India:

The Union Health Ministry has revised the existing norms for international passengers arriving in India in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases and the threat of Omicron. As per the new guidelines, ALL passengers will have to mandatorily undergo 7 days home quarantine. In the earlier guidelines, only passengers arriving into India from ‘at risk’ countries had to undergo home quarantine. In addition, passengers have to submit a self-declaration form and a negative RT-PCR report online before travelling to India. They have also been provided with the provision to pre-book a Covid-19 test that needs to be taken on arrival if returning from ‘at risk’ countries. The revised guidelines come into effect from January 11.

Click here to view the revised guidelines for International Arrivals issued on 7th January 22

Click here to view the updated list of ‘at risk’ countries

Click here to view the Algorithm for International Arrivals issued on 7th January 22

India adds 8 more countries to list of ‘at risk’ countries:

India has added 8 more countries to the list of ‘at risk’ countries with effect from January 11 which includes Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia, and Zambia.

The complete list of ‘at risk’ countries include all countries in Europe including The United Kingdom (UK), South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Ghana, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Hong Kong, Israel, Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia, and Zambia.

All international travellers arriving from the above ‘at risk’ countries have to undergo additional protocols including self-paid on arrival Covid-19 test, home quarantine for seven days, Covid-19 test on 8th day post quarantine and submitting a report on the Air Suvidha portal.

Seven-day home quarantine for all UAE passengers arriving in Mumbai:

In addition to the above ‘at risk’ countries issued by the Centre, the BMC has made seven- day home quarantine compulsory for all passengers arriving in Mumbai from the UAE, including Dubai. All such passengers will also have to undergo an RT-PCR test on arrival at the airport even if they are fully vaccinated. If they test positive, then they will be taken for institution quarantine.

Those passengers who are not residents of Mumbai will be allowed to leave the airport but those living in Maharashtra will be transferred by the Collector to their home cities and they will not be allowed to take public transport.

ICMR issues new guidelines waiving of testing requirements for inter-state domestic travel:

Due to the steep rise in Covid-19 cases in the country and the shortage of testing kits and delays in getting the test results due to overload on the system, ICMR has issued a new advisory on January 11 waiving off testing requirements for many categories including for individuals undertaking inter-state domestic travel.

However, we are still awaiting confirmation from states like Karnataka which currently requires RT-PCR tests for travellers arriving from Maharashtra and Kerala.

West Bengal allows direct flights from Delhi & Mumbai only for 3 days a week:

West Bengal (WB) will now allow domestic flights from Delhi and Mumbai only 3 days a week - Monday, Wednesday and Friday from January 5. Mumbai and Delhi are currently registering around 20,000 cases per day and WB Govt. has introduced this measure to restrict flyers from these two cities into airports in West Bengal.

Air India’s handover to Tata Group delayed by one month:

Tata Group’s take over of Air India which was supposed to be completed by December end has been delayed by atleast one month due to pending regulatory approvals and completion of certain formalities. The hand over process is expected to be completed by January end.

SpiceJet announces new direct flights from Pune:

SpiceJet announces new direct flights from Pune (PNQ) to Chennai (MAA), Goa (GOI) and additional flights to Delhi (DEL) as per the below schedule:

SpiceJet also announces direct flights to Sharjah from Pune:

After almost two years, the Pune airport will resume international flight operations from January 7 onwards thanks to a new direct flight announced by Spicejet between Pune and Sharjah. The schedule of the flight service is as follows:

Lufthansa announces flight schedule for January ’22 to its three hubs:

Here is the Lufthansa flight schedule between India and Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich (Swiss Air) for the month of January ‘22 under the 'air bubble' agreement between India and Germany & Switzerland.

Air India to start direct flights to Frankfurt from Mumbai:

Before completion of the handover to Tata Group, national carrier Air India has announced that it will start new direct, non-stop flights to Frankfurt from Mumbai starting January 19. The new flight will be operational till March 25, 2022.

The soon-to-be private-full-service carrier also informed that it would operate additional flights from Bengaluru on Fridays from 22nd January. The flight from Mumbai will fly from the Mumbai International Airport on Wednesdays and Fridays, while from Frankfurt, it will depart on Wednesdays.

British Airways and Qatar Airways to extend their joint business operations:

British Airways and Qatar, both part of the One-World Alliance have decided to extend their joint business operations. This news follows British Airways’ relaunch of daily services to Doha from Gatwick giving customers access to Qatar Airways’ expansive global network with connections from Doha to over 100 destinations across the world including popular destinations in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Australasia, such as Singapore, Sydney, Colombo and Nairobi.

On this sector, BA has a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft with three cabins - Club World (business class), World Traveller Plus (premium economy) and World Traveller (economy).

Indigo to sign a code-share agreement with Air France - KLM:

India's largest airline in terms of market share and fleet size, Indigo has announced they will be signing a code-share agreement with Air France - KLM. With this new partnership, Air France - KLM can offer their customers seamless access to 25 destinations in India.

This agreement is subject to government approval and is likely to come into effect from February 2022. Air France and KLM already serve four destinations in India, namely, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Bengaluru from their hubs in Amsterdam and Paris.

Singapore Airlines stops taking bookings for VTL flights temporarily:

Due the rising cases of Covid-19 across the world, Singapore Airlines has announced that it will not be accepting any bookings under the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) until January 20, 2022. The airline has taken the decision after the Singapore government suspended new ticket sales on designated VTL flights. However, all existing bookings will remain as they are, without any changes.

Flights under the VTL had rule began to operate from November 29, 2021 between Mumbai, Chennai, and Delhi and Singapore.

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Akasa Air unveils aircraft livery, tagline:

The newest airline, Akasa Air unveiled its tagline 'It's Your Sky' and aircraft livery that consisted of 'rising A' symbol in orange and purple colour. Backed by ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and aviation veterans Vinay Dube and Aditya Ghosh, Akasa Air had in October got the no-objection certificate from the Ministry of Civil Aviation to operate commercial flights.

In a press release on 5th January, the airline said “The Rising A is inspired by elements from the sky. It symbolises the warmth of the rising sun, the effortless flight of a bird and the dependability of an aircraft wing. ‘It’s Your Sky’ is the brand’s promise to embrace everyone and to create an inclusive environment for all Indians regardless of their socio-economic or cultural backgrounds. It is a powerful pledge of ownership, promise, and possibilities that accompany each traveller on their journeys."

Akasa Air has recently placed an order for 72 Boeing 737 MAX jets that include includes two variants from the 737 MAX family, including the 737-8 and the high-capacity 737-8-200.

UK scraps pre-departure tests:

Under the current rules, all fully vaccinated travellers over the age of 12 must show proof of a negative RT-PCR test taken 48 hours prior to arrival in the UK. With effect from January 7, this has been scrapped and fully vaccinated travellers will no longer need to take a test before arriving into England.

On arrival, they have to take a Covid test before end of Day 2 but they no longer need to isolate till they get the result. Also, passengers only have to take a lateral flow test instead of a PCR test.