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International Flights
An Air India Express flight from Thiruvananthapuram to Muscat, Oman returned shortly after take-off due to a technical glitch in its on-board computer system. The flight, IX 549, which took off from the state capital of Kerala at 8.30 AM returned to the international airport here at 9.17 AM after one of the pilots noticed the technical glitch. "All 105 passengers and the cabin crew are safe," an Air India Express spokesperson said. The airline is attempting to arrange another flight for the passengers and it's expected to take off from here at 1 PM, he said. All passengers are being well taken care of, he added.
India's present Covid scenario does not warrant restricting international flights or imposing a lockdown, but there is a need for strengthened surveillance and vigilance in view of the rise in cases in some countries, experts have said. They also said that a fresh outbreak of severe Covid cases and hospitalisation is unlikely as people in India have the advantage of 'hybrid immunity' i.e. natural immunity due to infection reinforced by vaccination. "Overall, there is no increase in Covid caseload and India currently is in a comfortable situation. Under present circumstances, there is no need to restrict international flights or impose a lockdown," Dr Randeep Guleria, a former AIIMS director, told PTI on Friday. Past experiences show that banning flights is not effective in halting the transmission of infection, he said. "Moreover, data suggests that the Omicron sub-variant BF.7, which is driving the surge in China, has already been found in our country." Asked whether a lockdown .
Sri Lanka is set to resume flights from the northern Jaffna peninsula to Chennai from Monday, three years after the island nation discontinued the services due to Covid, a spokesman from the Sri Lankan Airport Authority said on Friday. "The commercial flight operations from Chennai International airport to Jaffna International airport will be back effective 12th December 2022," SLAA spokesperson Sumith de Silva told PTI. This will be a resumption of flights since they were stopped for Covid," de Silva said. India's Alliance Air would operate four flights a week between the two cities, said de Silva. Earlier, Sri Lanka's Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told Parliament that flights will be operational between Jaffna and Chennai by December 12. However, there are still some improvements left to be done to the runway. The present runway can only accommodate 75-seater aircraft. The airport in Palaly was named the Jaffna international airport as Sri Lanka's third internation
The government on Monday scrapped the requirement to fill out Air Suvidha form for people flying into India from foreign countries amid declining coronavirus cases. The revised guidelines for international arrivals will be effective from November 22, according to a notification issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). Earlier, the guidelines had required that passengers arriving in India from overseas should fill up the Air Suvidha form. The form was introduced in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Last week, the civil aviation ministry said the use of masks is not compulsory during air travel but passengers should preferably use them. As per the MoHFW's latest guidelines, air travellers should preferably be fully vaccinated as per the approved primary schedule of vaccination against COVID-19 in their country. On arrival, the passengers should ensure physical distancing and thermal screening of all the arriving international passengers will be done by
Air India will be introducing premium economy class in some of its long haul international flights next month, its chief Campbell Wilson said on Saturday as the Tata group-owned airline works on ways to expand its market share as well as the global network. In his speech at an event by the JRD Tata Memorial Trust here, Wilson said the airline will increase its market share to at least 30 per cent in domestic and international routes. The airline is implementing a long-term revival plan and over the next five years, it aims to grow its wide-body and narrow-body fleet as well as expand the global network. "The short-term actions have been to replace carpets, curtains, seat cushions and covers. To fix defective seats and inflight entertainment systems as fast as supply chains will allow. And where parts are no longer available in the market, to work with the likes of Tata Technologies to design and manufacture parts ourselves. "We've recently completely revamped the domestic inflight
China has trimmed the quarantine time for inbound travellers and scrapped curbs on international flights, as it began to ease its stringent Zero-COVID policy. The new rules were announced following the first meeting of the newly elected seven-member Standing Committee of the ruling Communist Party of China, (CPC) headed by Xi Jinping here on Thursday. The Standing Committee is the highest policy-making and implementation body of the CPC. On the domestic front, China has adjusted quarantine requirements for close contacts of confirmed cases from seven days of centralised quarantine plus three days of health observation at home to five days of quarantine plus three days of observation. No "circuit breaker" on overseas inbound flights to China upon detecting positive cases on board, state-run Global Times tweeted on Friday. Under the circuit breaker policy, Chinese aviation officials arbitrarily suspend international flights for a prolonged period if any passengers tested positive fo
Direct flights between India and China should start, and the governments of the two countries must work together on this, Chinese Consul General in Kolkata Zha Liyou said. Flight services between the two neighbours have been disrupted ever since coronavirus was first reported in Wuhan in late 2019, and subsequently spread across the world. The flight disruption posed a major challenge for hundreds of Indian students as well as families of Indians working in China and businessmen, though Beijing recently lifted the visa ban after about three years. "Direct air connectivity between India and China should start and both governments should work towards this. A number of Indian students are now keen to return to China," Liyou said at a press briefing on Wednesday evening. About 23,000 Indian students, mostly studying medicine who were stranded back home due to China's COVID visa bans, made preparations to travel to China to rejoin their colleges but experienced difficulties due to the .