Passengers flying out of India can now directly book tickets with airlines, says Civil Aviation Ministry

Passengers taking international flights from India need not apply to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and can directly book their tickets with the airlines, said an official statement on Wednesday. Since July this year, India has signed separate bilateral air bubble arrangements with various countries like the US, the UK, the UAE, Germany, France and Qatar.

New Delhi:Passengers flying out of India under Air Transport Bubble Arrangement or Vande Bharat Mission flights do not need to first register with the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and they can now directly book tickets with the airlines concerned.

Earlier, the Standard Operating Protocol (SOP) issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on August 22, had stated that the persons who are eligible to travel on the outbound flights must apply to MoCA or an agency/agencies designated by MoCA for this purpose with required details.

While issuing the clarification, the MoCA on Wednesday said, "MoCA has designated all the airlines operating under VBM and Air Transport Bubble Arrangements as designated agencies for this purpose. Passengers may book tickets directly with the airlines concerned. They need not apply/register with the Ministry of Civil Aviation."

For inbound passengers, the Union Home Ministry in its SOP said, "Passengers desirous to travel to India on Vande Bharat flights, will register themselves with the Indian Missions in the country where they are stranded/residing, along with necessary details as prescribed by MEA."

"Such registration may not be required on flights operating under Air Transport Bubble Arrangements," added the SOP issued by MHA on Saturday.

The domestic aviation operations continue to grow steadily as the air passenger traffic and airline departures have doubled between May 4th week and August 3rd week.

The MoCA on Wednesday said that over 99,500 passengers took to the skies across the country and the airports touched a footfall of more than 2,00,000 passengers on August 25.