India is likely to enter into bilateral agreements with the U.S., U.K., France and Germany to restart international air travel. U.S. ultimatumThe decision was made public on a day the U.S. served an ultimatum of 30 days to Air India, threatening to ban it from conducting repatriation charters under the Vande Bharat Mission. “Air India’s so-called evacuation charters have gone beyond true evacuations [at least on the India to the United States segments] and involved sales to any member of the general public able to enter the United States. It added that between June 1 and July 1, India planned to operate 59 flights, which amounted to 53% of Air India’s scheduled commercial operations. “Travel bubbles are a step forward and will help towards restarting international travel.

Source: The Hindu June 23, 2020 19:41 UTC