Corporate Newsletter Nov 2.0

Singapore includes India in the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) scheme paving the way for resumption of scheduled commercial flights between Singapore & India. Australia reopens its borders to international students and skilled workers from Dec 1 and Qantas announces direct flights between Melbourne and Delhi from Dec 22. Air Mauritius commences twice-a-week service between Mumbai and Mauritius from Nov 18. American Airlines commences daily direct flights between New York and Delhi from Nov 14. UK and Canada are the latest countries to accept Covaxin for quarantine free travel. These and more updates in the 2nd edition of November Travel updates.

News at a Glance:

India allows quarantine free travel to fully inoculated tourists from 99 countries:
Travellers from 99 countries, who are fully-vaccinated against coronavirus disease (Covid-19), have been exempted from mandatory quarantine on arrival in India, according to a updated notification issued by the Union government on November 13. All these countries either share mutual recognition of Covid-19 vaccination certificates with India or allow quarantine-free entry to Indian nationals.

However, a few of these 99 countries are currently considered “at risk” by India where travellers would have to follow additional Covid-19 measures upon arrival.

Click here for complete list of countries that have been categorised as “Category A” and “Countries at risk”.

Akasa Airlines orders 72 Boeing 737 Max at Dubai Air Show:
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed new airline Akasa Air has ordered 72 '737 Max' aircraft from Boeing. The deal was inked at the Dubai Air Show where the order includes two variants from the 737 Max family, the 737-8 and the high-capacity 737-8-200. The order is valued at nearly USD 9 billion at list prices and the deliveries will begin next year, in line with the low-cost carrier’s plans to start flying by the summer of 2022.

Airlines can now serve meals on domestic flights:
As Covid-19 cases are on a downward trajectory in India, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has allowed airlines to serve or sell meals on all domestic flights irrespective of their flight duration. Indigo, Spicejet and Go Air have resumed meal service on all flights.

Vistara Check In counters to now close 1 hour before the flight:
From the earlier 45 minutes, Vistara check-in counters will now close 60 minutes prior to scheduled departure for domestic flights originating from all airports. Counters open 2.5 hrs prior the flight.

Check-in counters open 3 hours prior and close 1 hour prior to scheduled departure for international flights.

Pune Airport to resume round the clock operations from December 1:
From December 1 onwards, the Pune Airport will be operational round the clock. Airlines like Indigo have already announced red-eye flights from 15th December between Pune and Gauhwati, Coimbatore and Bhubaneshwar. In addition, seven new flights are also expected to start in the next two months and once 24*7 operations resume at Pune airport, the passenger traffic is likely to reach pre-pandemic levels by Feb-Mar 2022.

Assistance for Indian e-Visa applications for foreign nationals:

We are pleased to let you know that we can now assist foreign nationals with their Indian E-visa application across visa categories. So if you are inviting foreign guests to India from countries where India has the e-visa facility (150+ countries), we would be glad to assist with the e-visa application.

For more details on the India visa form & fees, e-visa categories, eligibility of travel and more, please click on the link below>>
https://www.odysseytravels.net/travel-agents/india-e-visa-consultants.aspx

Updated rules for foreign nationals entering India:
Here are the links to the rules for foreign nationals entering India updated as on 9th Nov:

Guidelines for international travel:

Updated list of countries for post arrival testing:

Algorithm for international arrivals:

For assistance with visas, please contact us at abhijit@uniglobeodysseytravel.com or call 020-66442914

Indigo to launch daily direct flights from Pune to Thiruvananthapuram:

Indigo to launch daily direct flights from Pune to Thiruvananthapuram with effect from 15th December ’21 with following schedule:

Air Mauritius resumes bi-weekly flights between Mumbai and Mauritius:

Air Mauritius resumes bi-weekly flights between Mumbai and Mauritius with effect from 18th November ’21 with the following schedule:

American Airlines relaunches flight services to India:

American Airlines relaunched its direct flights between New York and Delhi with the first flight landing in Delhi’s IGI Airport on 14th November. This flight was supposed to start October-end but was deferred by a couple of weeks.

The current schedule between New York and New Delhi is as follows:

American Airlines Bangalore – Seattle flight that was scheduled to commence on 4th Jan has been deferred till Mar end as corporate travel is yet to pick up.

The airline had last flown to India in 2012 when it terminated its Delhi – Chicago flight which it launched in 2007.

Singapore to allow quarantine free travel for fully vaccinated Indians from 29th Nov:

Singapore has finally opened its doors to fully vaccinated Indians without the need to quarantine under the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) scheme with effect from Nov 29. India joins a growing list of countries like Australia, Canada and Germany which have been added to Singapore’s VTL after the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and the Ministry of Civil Aviation in India (MoCA) reached an agreement to commence scheduled commercial flights between the two countries.

Applications for vaccinated travel passes (VTP):
Short-term visitors and long-term pass holders must apply for a VTP to enter Singapore under the VTL. VTP applications for travellers from India will open on Nov 29 at 10 am Singapore time.

Visa for travel to Singapore:
Applications for short-term visitors and long-term pass holders will start on November 22

Travellers who require a visa for travel to Singapore should apply for their visa separately and only after their VTP is approved.

In addition to the VTP and visa, travellers to Singapore must also purchase travel insurance, with a minimum coverage of Singapore USD 30,000 for COVID-19-related medical treatment and hospitalisation costs. And in Singapore, visitors must use the TraceTogether app to facilitate contact tracing.

Click here to view a pre-departure checklist for short term visitors.

Singapore Airlines announces resumption of flights to India:

Singapore Airlines has announced VTL flights between Singapore and Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai from Nov 29 with six daily flights. Passengers on VTL flights will not be subject to any quarantine requirement in Singapore.

Singapore Airlines will also progressively operate non-VTL services from Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Kochi from Nov 29. Scoot, SIA’s low-cost subsidiary, will operate non-VTL services from Amritsar, Hyderabad, and Tiruchirappalli. Passengers on non-VTL flights must meet entry requirements into Singapore and will face prevailing health control measures including seven days of quarantine in Singapore.

Click here for everything you need to know about VTL and non-VTL flights.

SQ Flights resuming on 29 Nov 2021:

Indigo to launch flights to Singapore from Chennai & Tiruchirappalli:

Indigo will be launching daily flights from Chennai and Tiruchirappalli to Singapore with effect from Nov 29 as per the below schedule:

Australia to re-open borders to students, skilled workers from December 1:

Australia announced the opening of its borders to fully vaccinated international students, and certain categories of skilled workers from Dec 1.

Travellers to Australia must be fully vaccinated and get a negative PCR test within three days of departing for Australia. Because of the different rules in each state and territory, only New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory will allow travellers to fly in without any quarantine restrictions.

Qantas announces 4 weekly flights from Melbourne to Delhi wef Dec 22:

For the first time in the airline’s history, Qantas has announced the launch of a brand-new international route from Melbourne to Delhi from 22 December 2021, connecting Victoria to the Indian capital on a Qantas-operated flight.

The new Melbourne-Delhi flight will operate four times a week, year-round as per the below schedule:

Same day connections will also be available from Brisbane, Sydney and Canberra. Flights from Melbourne to Delhi will initially operate via Adelaide, while flights from Delhi to Melbourne will operate nonstop.

This follows the recent announcement of flights from Sydney to Delhi, which starts on 6th December.

UK & Canada to accept travellers vaccinated with Covaxin:

Canada will now allow entry to travellers from India fully vaccinated with Covaxin from Nov 30 and UK will allow entry from Nov 22.

To qualify as a fully vaccinated traveller, one must have received at least two doses of an accepted vaccine or a mix of 2 accepted vaccines, or at least 1 dose of the Janssen/Johnson & Johnson vaccine, at least 14 full days prior to the day of travel. Travellers who meet the requirements of being fully vaccinated are now exempt from quarantine, but are required to show pre-entry molecular test and a test upon landing (before the end of Day 2 in UK).