'Amid COVID-19, some countries still restricting entry to Indians'

Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. Pic/Twitter Hardeep Singh Puri

Some countries have still not removed restrictions on the entry of Indian nationals and the central government is ready to fly passengers to these countries whenever they ease their limits, said Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia is one such country that does not allow airlines to bring passengers from India currently amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"We are operating international flights under VBM (Vande Bharat Mission) since May 6, 2020. However, some countries, including some in the Gulf region, have still not removed restrictions on the entry of Indian nationals," Puri said on Twitter.

"We are ready to fly passengers to these countries whenever they ease restrictions," he added.

On October 22, the minister had said that the average fares on special flights operating between Kerala and Bahrain are between Rs 30,000 and Rs 39,000 as the Gulf country allows only 750 passengers to come from India per week.

Scheduled international flights have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, special international passenger flights have been operating in India under the Vande Bharat Mission since May and under bilateral air bubble arrangements formed between India and other countries since July.

India started scheduled domestic passenger flights on May 25 after a gap of two months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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