Sri Lanka, UAE, Belgium and Oman opens up to fully vaccinated Indians. Sri Lankan Airlines and Indigo announce flights between India and Sri Lanka from multiple cities in India. Air Tanzania resumes flights between Dar-es-Salaam and Mumbai. Indigo and Air Asia announce new direct flights from Pune to Raipur and Ranchi respectively. Maharashtra issues new Covid rules for returning international passengers from select countries. These and more updates in the 1st edition of our September ’21 Travel Updates newsletter.

Since our last update, Goa and Ladakh are the latest states to waive the RT-PCR test requirement for fully vaccinated travellers who have completed 15 days since receiving the 2nd dose. Unfortunately, Karnataka still requires an RT-PCR test for fully vaccinated travellers arriving from Maharashtra and Kerala.

Click here to download the customer support guide for state-wise regulations updated as of 03rd September, 2021. 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.

In other news, DGCA has extended the ban on international scheduled commercial passenger flights to and from India till 30th Sep ’21. The air-bubble arrangement with select countries continues.

Air Asia launches direct flights between Pune and Ranchi with effect from 13th September as per the following schedule:

Indigo launches direct flights between Pune and Raipur:

Indigo’s launches direct flights between Pune and Raipur with effect from 16th Sep as per the below schedule:

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday allowed Boeing 737 Max aircrafts to fly in the Indian airspace again, after carrying out the required safety modifications. The Boeing 737 Max planes were grounded globally in March 2019 after two crashes within 5 months.

Recently, these planes were allowed to fly again by regulators of different countries including US, EU and UAE after undergoing required hardware and software updates for safety.

Meanwhile, SpiceJet - the only Indian carrier with B737 Max aircraft in India - entered into a settlement with Avolon, a major lessor of MAX aircraft, paving the way for the airline’s thirteen 737 MAX aircrafts to return to service by the end of September 2021, subject to regulatory approvals.

Besides, billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala also plans to launch an airline by the end of this year with a B737 Max fleet.

In a new development, international passengers arriving from or transiting through the United Kingdom, Europe, Middle Eastern countries, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, and Zimbabwe will now have to take a mandatory self-paid RT-PCR test on arrival at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), Mumbai.

This new rule comes into effect from the midnight of 3rd September. The cost of the test will be ₹600. The capacity of testing at the airport has been increased to 600 tests per hour and requisite arrangements have been made for implementation of the guidelines.

International passengers travelling from the United States or other countries except the ones mentioned above who will exit at the Mumbai airport or will take a connecting flight will have to produce a negative RT-PCR report, done within 72 hours before the journey. All previous exemptions for fully-vaccinated and people above 65 years of age would not be applicable from 3rd September.

Click here to view the detailed guidelines for all International Arrivals

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

Flights from India:

Flights to India:

Effective 1st September 2021, Lufthansa will be flying the “Queen of the skies” Boeing 747-800 between Bangalore and Frankfurt in addition to the existing Delhi-Frankfurt route.

The B747-800, with its comfort and efficiency offers 8 seats in First Class, 80 in Business Class, 32 in Premium Economy and 244 in Economy.

In a positive development, Air Tanzania has resumed twice-a-week direct service between Dar-es-Salaam and Mumbai with effect from 30th August as per the below schedule:

Dubai:
With effect from 30th August, Dubai has opened its borders to tourists “from all countries” who have received both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Passengers arriving in DUBAI from India must follow specific protocols and entry requirements as stated below:

• A valid negative COVID 19 PCR test certificate with a QR code issued within 48 hours of the time the sample was collected from an approved health facility.
• A rapid PCR test report with a QR code for a test conducted at the departure airport within six hours of departure.
• Passengers arriving in Dubai from India will be required to take another COVID 19 PCR test on arrival at Dubai International airport.

However, all the rules for unvaccinated passengers, including exempted categories, remain in place, as per the new UAE travel guideline.

To co-incide with the opening of borders, VFS is now accepting fresh applications for tourist visas to Dubai.

Special Airfares on Emirates:
Emirates has announced special return fares from India to Africa and South America in First, Business and Economy class. Book by 19th September 2021 and travel between 9th September 2021 until 31st March 2022. Call or mail our consultants for details.

Abu Dhabi:
With effect from 5th Sep 2021, guests will be able to travel to Abu Dhabi without having to quarantine if they’re fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Here are the new quarantine and RT-PCR testing schedule w.e.f 5th September:

In addition, all guests flying to Abu Dhabi will require a PCR test taken 48 hours before their flight departure time. If transiting Abu Dhabi, they will continue to need a test 72 hours before departure depending on their final destination and ICA registration is not required.

Sri Lanka has opened its borders to fully vaccinated Indians who have taken either Covishield or Covaxin. Fully vaccinated Indian travellers will be required to produce a negative PCR report issued not before 72 hours of their arrival and undergo an on-arrival PCR test at a certified hotel in Sri Lanka. Once they get a negative result, travellers will be allowed to explore the country.

Regular flights will be operated between nine Indian cities and the island nation. Sri Lankan Airlines will operate four weekly flights to Chennai, three to Mumbai, and one to Bengaluru under its new schedule. Under the new schedules, the airline will be resuming services between Colombo and four Indian cities - Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Trivandrum and Cochin - with one flight a week, whilst Hyderabad and New Delhi will be connected to Colombo with two flights in a week.

Further, the Sri Lankan Airlines' operations out of Chennai and Mumbai will expand up to five times a week whilst its Bengaluru-Colombo services will be enhanced to flights three times a week.

IndiGo announces new flights between India & Sri Lanka:
Indigo has announced flights from Mumbai, Chennai and Kochi to Colombo with effect from 10th Sep 2021 as per the below schedule: (likely to get postponed due to the extension of the lockdown in Sri Lanka)

With effect from 1st September 2021, the Belgian authorities have decided that a vaccination certificate issued in a country not belonging to the European Union and containing relevant information in Dutch, French, German or English will also be accepted for entry into Belgium for non-essential travel.

The vaccination certificate should include identity of the person who has been vaccinated (name, date of birth and/or ID number), the brand name and the name of the vaccine manufacturer along with the name of the country where the vaccine was administered, the signature, stamp or a digitally readable unique certificate identification code of the issuer of the certificate of vaccination.

The following vaccinations are recognized: Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca-Vaxzevria-Covishield and Janssen.

The ban on non-essential travel to Belgium no longer applies to travellers who, prior to arrival on the territory, hold a “vaccination certificate” that meets all the above-mentioned criteria.

Vistara has officially received the all-clear from the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) to operate flights between the US and India. Vistara had previously planned to start flights in September 2021 but since the no objection has just been received by US DOT, Vistara will be launching flights in due course once the ongoing ban for travel to the US is lifted (currently only US citizens and their families, legal permanent residents and students can travel to the US)

Vistara will be using its Boeing 787-9 aircraft to fly to the United States. With the range of Boeing 787-9, the aircraft can reach points across the United States, including San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Boston, and Washington D.C. from its hubs in Mumbai and Delhi.