In major news since our last update, international airlines are ramping up their flights to India - British Airways announces double daily flights between London and Mumbai, KLM resumes flights between Bengaluru and Amsterdam, Spicejet launches flights to Dubai from several Indian cities, Indigo has announced new direct flights to Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Riyadh, Dammam, Istanbul, Jeddah, Muscat, Bangkok & Phuket and Vietjet is resuming direct flights between New Delhi and Hanoi & Ho Chi Minh City. Qatar Airways and Indigo have resumed their code-share partnership. These and more updates in our 2nd edition in April.

Domestic Airlines revise date change penalty charges:

All major Indian carriers have revised their date changes penalties with effect from April 18 for their website and published fares as given below:

Passengers to get free 24x7 inter-terminal coach transfers between T1 and T2 at CSMIA:

Mumbai International Airport (CSMIA) has introduced free 24x7 coach transfers between T1 and T2 from April 15. The operation will commence with 03 coaches and will be ramped up further in due course. The carefully planned itinerary for the coaches would allow a smooth and seamless pick up and drop for passengers going from T1 to T2 or vice versa.

Alliance Air to start Dornier operations in North-East India:

Alliance Air (AA), the only government-owned fixed wing airline will start operating a Dornier 228 on the Dibrugarh-Passighat-Lilabari-Passighat-Dibrugarh route twice a week from April 18.

Besides, AA will launch Dibrugarh-Zero and then connect Tezu around mid-May. Next month Alliance Air will get its second made-in-India Dornier 228. And with two of these planes in its fleet, AA will connect Dibrugarh to Mechuka, Tuting and Vijoynagar.

Qatar Airways resumes its successful codeshare partnership with IndiGo:

With the resumption of scheduled international flights from March 27, Qatar Airways and Indigo have resumed their code share agreement which allows each carrier to sell seats on the other’s flights.

Qatar Airways will be placing its marketing code on IndiGo operated flights between Doha and Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, starting from April 25, and Chennai, Bengaluru, Kochi, Kozhikode, starting from May 9.

Qatar Airways is currently operating 190 flights per week to and from 12 destinations in India, namely Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Kozhikode, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Goa, Kolkata, and Thiruvananthapuram.

Update from US Embassy for first time applicants:

The U.S. Embassy and Consulates in India are finally opening appointments across all visa categories - all applicants who applied for a B-1/B-2 visa and had their applications cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic, and all other first-time applications may look for new appointments starting around September 2022 and onwards. Scheduling for appointments will commence sometime from June 2022.

As of now, only applicants who had a prior B Visa which had expired within the last 48 months could apply for renewal through the ‘dropbox’ route. But even these "dropbox" appointments for submission are currently available only after June.

Thailand lifts RT-PCR testing requirement for international travellers from 1 May:

Thailand's Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has lifted the RT-PCR testing requirement for international arrivals beginning May 1, 2022 for fully vaccinated travellers. As per the new rules:

• International travellers who are fully vaccinated will no longer be required to show proof of a pre-arrival negative RT-PCR test nor undergo an arrival test
• They are still required to register for a Thailand Pass (via https://tp.consular.go.th/) with a Certificate of COVID-19 Vaccination and an insurance policy with coverage no less than US$10,000 (reduced from US$20,000).
• Once arriving in Thailand, they will be allowed entry and are free to go anywhere in the kingdom.

Singapore lifts RT-PCR testing for fully vaccinated travellers:

Travellers fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and children below 12 years will no longer need to take any Covid-19 tests to enter Singapore from April 26. In addition, vaccinated travellers do not need to download the Trace Together app, safe distancing is no longer required and masking has been made optional in outdoor settings (still mandatory indoors and on public transport)

The latest move means that the entry requirements for those who are vaccinated against Covid-19 will be almost restored to what it was before the pandemic.

Austria eases entry requirements:

Austrian citizens and foreign nationals, regardless of their departure country, can enter Austria without having to quarantine if they have one of the following:

• Proof of full vaccination with the last applicable dose administered between 14 and 270 days of departure.
• Proof of recovery from COIVD-19 within 180 days of intended arrival.
• Proof of a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of departure or a negative antigen test taken within 24 hours of departure.

Travelers who do not have one of the aforementioned documents must quarantine upon arrival until they receive a negative COVID-19 test result. Children under the age of 12 are exempt from Austria’s COVID-19 entry requirements.

Switzerland to lift all entry restrictions from May 2:

From 2nd May 2022 (Monday), Switzerland will lift all entry restrictions currently put in place for travellers. This means that the usual rules for entering into Switzerland will be applicable, and travellers will be able to enter Switzerland like they used to, before the pandemic.

The resumption of regular international flights has thrown up a new complication for travel from India to the UK via EU post Brexit.

Indians booked to travel to the UK on EU carriers like Lufthansa, Air France and KLM by transiting via these airlines’ hubs at Frankfurt/Munich, Paris and Amsterdam, respectively, are being denied boarding at the point of origin in India if they do not have a transit/regular Schengen visa.

Here's what you need to know about the new travel rule:
* It is compulsory for those travelling from a non-Schengen country to another non-Schengen country and who have to connect flights in an airport of a Schengen country to have a transit visa. As a result, Indians travelling to the UK via a stopover in an EU country will need a transit visa as Britain is no longer part of the EU.

Please note:

• Switzerland and its airlines are exempt from the new transit rule as the country is not part of the EU.
• In addition, Indians traveling to the UK via the Middle East do not need a Schengen airport transit visa.

Read more here.

SpiceJet adds more flights to Dubai:

Spicejet has added more flights to Dubai from various cities in India, including Pune, with the following schedule:

SpiceJet to add more flights to Gulf, with Mumbai to Riyadh and Jeddah services:

India's low-cost airline SpiceJet plans to add new flights to the Gulf as demand on the sector heads back to pre-pandemic levels. The airline will launch new non-stop flights between Ahmedabad and Muscat, and also connect Mumbai and Kozhikode (Kerala) with Riyadh and Jeddah.

These services will start from April 26 in a phased manner with the airline’s Boeing 737 and Q400 aircrafts deployed on the new routes. The schedule between Mumbai and Riyadh and Jeddah is given below:

SpiceJet launches new direct flights from Ahmedabad, Pune & Bhavnagar from May 1:

British Airways announces double daily flights from London to Mumbai:

BA has announced the launch of its second daily flight between London and Mumbai starting from May 31, 2022 and will further increase to triple daily service in the winter schedule starting in October.

KLM Resumes flights from Bengaluru to Amsterdam from May 25, 2022:

KLM will operate three flights per week from Bengaluru to Amsterdam starting from May 25 offering travellers from Bangalore access to destinations across KLM's global network via Amsterdam. The schedule is as follows:

This route will be serviced by Boeing 777-200, with 30 seats in business class and 286 seats in economy class.

Furthermore, KLM will increase the frequency between Mumbai and Amsterdam from five flights a week to daily flights starting 23 May'22.

Indigo announces new international flights:

Indigo has announced direct flights to a slew of international destinations like Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Istanbul, Muscat, Bangkok and Phuket as per the below schedule. What’s more, Indigo is offering connections from many cities in India to these international destinations.

Indigo also offers convenient connections between the above destinations and below national and International cities.

Vietjet is resuming flights to Vietnam from India:

Vietjet has introduced thrice a week direct flights between New Delhi and Hanoi starting from April 29 and to Ho Chi Minh City from April 30.

Vietjet direct flights between Mumbai and Hanoi as well as Ho Chi Minh City will commence from June 4.

The flight schedules are given below:

From Delhi:

From Mumbai: