Corporate Newsletter October 2021 (1.0)

We are pleased to inform you that our entire team is double vaccinated and back to working from office full time with effect from 4th Oct. Only half day on Saturday continues to be WFH for now.

Here are the most important travel updates since our last newsletter. The Pune airport will remain closed from 16th to 29th October for resurfacing work. American Airlines and IndiGo announce codeshare agreement providing more travel options and seamless connectivity across India. Air India resumes flights to Toronto and Vancouver from Delhi. UK lifts quarantine restrictions for Indians who are fully vaccinated with Covishield. The CoWIN portal has added a new feature to get an “International Travel Certificate”. These and more updates in the first edition of our October newsletter.

Pune airport to be closed for 15 days in Oct:

In a sudden announcement on 5th Oct, the Pune Airport authorities have announced the complete closure of the airport for 15 days from 16th to 29th October to complete the recarpeting work on the runway.

The 15-day airport closure was to be done earlier this year but it was postponed to transport the Covishield vaccine from Pune to various cities in India. The shutdown is expected to affect the passengers and airlines in a big way as it came with hardly any advance notice and just before the start of the Indian festive season holidays.

Updated state-wise travel guidelines & restrictions:

Karnataka & West Bengal still requires an RT-PCR test for fully vaccinated travellers arriving from Maharashtra and Kerala. Click here for the latest state wise travel guidelines and restrictions.

It is imperative to check the updated protocols of the state that you are travelling to as airlines will deny boarding if you are not in compliance with the arriving state’s travel regulations.

DGCA extends travel ban on commercial flights till 30th Oct:

DGCA has extended the ban on international scheduled commercial passenger flights to and from India till 30th Oct ’21. The current air-bubble arrangement with around 28 select countries continues for one more month in the face of a looming threat of the third wave of infection and the rising cases of the Delta variant of the Covid-19 in several countries.

India to resume issuing tourist visas:

The home ministry has announced the opening up of the country to international tourists almost 19 months after tourists visas were suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Tourist visas will be issued in a phased manner starting from 15th October for foreigners arriving on chartered flights only. The facility will be extended to foreigners coming in flights ‘other than chartered ones’ from 15th November onwards. Tourist visas may initially be granted to foreigners coming in from countries with which India has an ‘air bubble’ arrangement. More details are awaited from the home ministry.

New feature on CoWIN portal goes live, now you can “download International Travel Certificate”:

The CoWIN portal has recently introduced a facility to download an ‘international travel certificate’ that includes the date of birth of the citizens who are fully vaccinated with the name of the approved vaccine and the dates when the 1st and 2nd doses were administered. The new vaccine certificate now complies with international travel guidelines of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

International travellers who require the travel certificate can download it from the new 'International Travel Certificate' option on the CoWIN portal, which went live on September 30.

Air India resumes flight services to Toronto and Vancouver:

After Canada lifted the ban on international flight operations from India on September 27, Air India announced the resumption of flights from Delhi to Toronto and Vancouver.

Delhi -Vancouver Flight Schedule:

The airline resumed its non-stop flight to Vancouver (YVR) from Delhi(DEL) every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday from October 1, 2021 as per the below schedule:

The air passengers who are planning to fly to Canada must carry a negative COVID-19 test report from the approved laboratory at the New Delhi International Airport. The test has to be done within 18 hours before departure.

Lufthansa announces flight schedule for October ’21:

Here is the Lufthansa flight schedule between India and Frankfurt for the month of October ‘21 under the 'air bubble' agreement between India and Germany.

Further, due to the relaxations of travel restrictions to Germany;

• Digital Registration for arrival into Germany is not required anymore
• Passengers flying from Germany to India do not need to register with Indian Mission in Germany

American Airlines and IndiGo announce codeshare agreement:

American Airlines is opening new doors across India this fall thanks to a new codeshare agreement with IndiGo, India’s leading airline. The agreement will place American’s code on 29 of IndiGo’s domestic routes in India, providing a convenient option for American Airlines customers arriving on the carrier’s new Bengaluru (BLR) and Delhi (DEL) flights to connect to multiple cities in India.

The codeshare, which is subject to US and Indian governments’ approvals, is expected to begin when American launches its new service between New York (JFK) and Delhi on October 31. American is also introducing a non-stop service between Seattle (SEA) and Bengaluru on January 4, 2022. This code share is expected to provide more travel options and offer seamless connectivity across India.

VFS has resumed visa processing for over 40 countries:

With the 2nd wave tapering off in India, many countries have resumed processing visa applications.

Click here to view a list of the missions handled by VFS Global which have restarted along with categories of visas being processed and the locations where they are being processed.

UK lifts quarantine requirement for Indians vaccinated with Covishield:

The British High Commission has announced that there will be no quarantine for fully vaccinated Indians with Covishield travelling to the UK from 11th October onwards. In addition, they will not be required to take the pre-departure test nor the day 8 test following their arrival in the UK. They will only require to take the Day 2 test which can also be the less expensive ‘lateral flow’ test and not RT-PCR. After this move by the UK, it is a matter of time for the Indian government to reverse its decision to quarantine UK nationals for 10 days on their arrival in India.