Aviation industry sources said on Sunday (August 16) that the private airline Air Vistara (UK) is planning to start its international flight operations between India and the United Kingdom, France and Germany under bilateral bubble arrangements with these countries, amid the COIVD-19 pandemic.

Earlier this month, India and the United Kingdom signed a bilateral aviation agreement under which airlines of the two countries can operate international flights subject to certain restrictions. India signed similar bilateral agreement with France and Germany in the last month.

Vistara has received its second B787-9 wide body aircraft on August 15. In February, the carrier had received its first B787-9 aircraft.

The wide body airplanes have larger fuel tanks and can operate on long distances routes. The fleets of Vistara have 43 aircrafts, of which 41 are narrow body aircraft such as A320neo and B737-800NG.

An industry source has said, “Vistara has already got the slots at the Heathrow airport in London. The flights between Delhi and London are likely to be announced in the next few days.”

According to the statement, the carrier’s flight is likely to operate thrice a week on Delhi-London route.

Another aviation industry source said that the full-service airline may also operate flights between India and France and between India and Germany. The probable destinations for these flights are Paris and Frankfurt respectively. However, it is yet to clear that which Indian cities will connect to Paris and Frankfurt by Vistara.

In light of the pandemic, India and many other countries have imposed travel restrictions and the aviation sector has been significantly affected. All airlines in India have chosen cost-cutting measures such as unpaid leave, salary cuts and firing employees to save cash.

Since March 23, the operations of scheduled international passenger flights have continued to be suspended in India, in a bid to contain the spread and importation of COVID-19 pandemic.

The country has resumed operations of domestic passenger flights on May 25 after two months of being restricted. The airlines have been allowed to operate up to 45 per cent of their pre-coronavirus domestic flights.

In regards to COVID-19 transmission, India is at third position in the list of all the countries in the world affected by COVID-19 and has reported 2,706,450 confirmed cases which are under treatment & 51,955 patients have lost their lives. However, 1,978,747 patients tested positive to COVID-19 have recovered, as of Tuesday (August 18).

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