Bengaluru (Karnataka): As many as 13 airlines will connect Bengaluru to 14 international destinations under air bubbles, and the repatriation programmes.
According to reports, the international destinations connected to Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport include Abu Dhabi (Etihad, GoAir and Air India Express), Amsterdam (KLM Royal Dutch), Dubai (Emirates, Indigo, GoAir, Air India Express and Vistara), Doha (Indigo and Qatar Airways), Frankfurt (Lufthansa), Kuwait (Air India and Indigo).
The list also includes Kuala Lumpur (Air India Express and Malaysian Airlines), London (Air India and British Airways), Muscat (Air India Express), Narita (Air India), Paris (KLM Royal Dutch), Riyadh (Indigo) and Singapore (Air India Express).
Meanwhile, Bengaluru will also be connected to San Francisco via Kochi (Air India).
Since July, India has established such bubbles with the following countries - the US, the UK, France, Germany, the UAE, Qatar and the Maldives.
Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri today said that India is negotiating with 13 countries, including Australia, Japan and Singapore, to establish separate bilateral air bubble arrangements for international flight operations.
Under a bilateral air bubble pact, airlines of both the countries can operate international flights with certain restrictions.
Read: Ready to welcome passengers, says Bengaluru airport
Puri said on Twitter air bubbles have also been proposed with our neighbours Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bhutan.
Scheduled international passenger flights continue to remain suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
After a gap of two months due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown, India resumed domestic passenger flights on May 25. However, average occupancy rate in Indian domestic flights has been around just 50-60 per cent since May 25. Currently, airlines in India are permitted to operate 45 per cent of their pre-COVID domestic flights.
Read: Hyderabad Airport resumes direct flights to UK under 'air transport bubbles'
The aviation sector has been significantly impacted due to the travel restrictions imposed in India and other countries in view of the coronavirus pandemic. All airlines in India have taken cost-cutting measures such as pay cuts, leave-without-pay and firings of employees in order to conserve cash.
(With inputs from PTI)
