India Eyes Travel Bubbles With 13 Countries Including Italy, Australia, Japan, Bahrain, Russia & More

India negotiates with Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Bahrain, Nigeria, Kenya, Israel, Russia, Philippines, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand for travel bubbles. By Tanvi Jain

 

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A post shared by Italy Best Places by Angelo (@italy_bestplaces) on Aug 15, 2020 at 3:46pm PDT

After successfully creating travel bubbles with seven countries, i.e. the UK, US, France, Germany, UAE, Canada, and Maldives, India is now negotiating for a similar agreement with 13 more countries including, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Bahrain, Nigeria, Kenya, Israel, Russia, Philippines, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand.  

“We continue to further strengthen the reach & scope of VBM. Air Travel arrangements are already in place with the USA, UK, France, Germany, UAE, Qatar & Maldives. We are now taking these efforts forward & are negotiating with 13 more countries to establish such arrangements. These countries include Australia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Bahrain, Israel, Kenya, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea & Thailand. The ongoing negotiations will benefit stranded Indians & nationals of these countries,” Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in a tweet.  

 

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A post shared by New Zealand (@newzealand) on Aug 13, 2020 at 10:51pm PDT

“Air bubbles have also been proposed with our neighbours Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal & Bhutan. Going forward, we will consider such arrangements with other countries also. It is always our endeavour to reach out to every stranded citizen. No Indian will be left behind,” he added. 

Moreover, commenting on the sixth phase of the ongoing Vande Bharat Mission, which is scheduled to start from September 1, Puri further tweeted, “More flights & destinations being added to VBM to further widen the geographic reach of the mission in its current phase & in Phase-6 from 1 Sept to 24 Oct 2020.” 

 

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According to the newly released Air India schedule, the airlines will be operating more than 145 flights between India and the United States on routes such as Mumbai-Newark, Delhi-New York, Delhi-San Francisco, Delhi-Chicago Delhi-Washington DC, etc. The bookings for the same can easily be done both through the Air India website, booking offices or even authorised travel agents. 

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Civil Aviation recently confirmed on its twitter handle that, “Over 10,98,000 stranded Indians have been repatriated under Mission #VandeBharat since 6th May.” 

Related: India May Soon Establish An Air Bubble With Israel. What Does It Mean For Travellers?