Flights between India and the UK resume amid new COVID strain

Flight services between the UK and India recommenced on Friday, with national carrier Air India flying in over 250 passengers from that country. An AI-112 flight landed at Delhi's IGI Airport from the UK. The special flights would be operated under strict supervision.

As per the latest government guidelines, all passengers arriving from the UK would have to undergo mandatory RT-PCR test in the UK as well as in India. In a tweet, the Delhi airport said: "Passengers are advised to maintain a gap of minimum 10 hours between their international flights' estimated time of arrival and the connecting domestic flights' time of departure."

As per the Centre, 30 flights will operate every week - 15 each by the Indian and the UK transporters. This will run till January 23, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri has said.

On the other side, the Delhi airport has also requested the returnees to keep a gap of about 10 hours between their arrival from UK and the connecting flight to other destinations. More than 40 nations had put travel restrictions to and from UK, after to a new mutant strain of coronavirus emerged in Britain..

Meanwhile, passengers from the UK arriving between January 8 and January 30 will be subjected to self-paid COVID-19 tests. Passengers on arrival are also required to carry COVID-19 negative reports from a test done 72 hours before their journey, as per the government's new SOP.

(With inputs from IANS)