NEW DELHI: India will finally allow scheduled international flights to resume from March 27, 2022, — two years after they were suspended. While expensive “air bubble” arrangements with 37 key destination countries ensured global connectivity during this period, regular flight resumption was awaited for two reasons — more connectivity/choices, leading to lower fares. The Ukraine conflict will, however, cast its shadow on these expectations.
Top travel industry officials say regular flight fares will definitely be much lower than exorbitant bubble charges but they are unlikely to be close to their pre-pandemic levels as crude is now close to the $140-mark and rupee has crashed below 77 mark to the US dollar. Jet fuel prices globally are at 14-year high.
