India Establishes Air Bubble Agreement With Netherlands
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Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation on Wednesday announced that they established new air bubble agreement with Netherlands and Rwanda.
Air bubbles, also known as travel bridges or green corridors, remove the waiting period for travelers from certain countries, by allowing the countries to operate their respective carriers.
Now, India has air bubble agreement with 21 countries including Afghanistan, Bhutan, the US, the UK, Germany, France, Japan, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Netherlands, Canada, Iraq, Kenya, Oman and Ukraine.
According to a report, the Air bubble agreement that India established with Netherlands has come into force on November 1st. Indian and Maldivian carriers are now permitted to operate flights between India and Netherlands and can fly following categories of passengers on such flights:
A. From India to Netherlands:
- Stranded nationals/residents of Netherlands, foreign nationals destined for EU/Schengen area, South America or Africa only and transiting through Netherlands or spouses of these persons, whether accompanying or otherwise;
- Any Indian national or national of Nepal or Bhutan destined for any country in EU/Schengen area, South America or Africa only and holding a valid visa of the destination country. It would be for the airlines concerned to ensure that there is no travel restriction for Indian/Nepalese/Bhutanese nationals to enter the destination country before issue of ticket/boarding pass to the Indian/Nepalese/Bhutanese passenger; and
- Seamen of foreign nationalities and Seamen holding Indian passports would be allowed subject to clearance from the Ministry of Shipping. Seamen should be destined for countries in the EU/Schengen area, South America or Africa only.
B. From Netherlands to India:
- Indian nationals or nationals of Nepal or Bhutan stranded in any country in EU/Schengen area, South America or Africa only;
- All Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders and PIO cardholders holding passports of any country;
- All foreign nationals (from any country in EU/Schengen area,South America or Africa only) intending to visit India for any purpose (including their dependents on appropriate category of dependent visa) except those on Tourist Visa; and
- Seamen from EU/Schengen area, South America or Africa only.
Passengers traveling on flights from India to Netherlands should be destined for countries in the EU/Schengen area, South America or Africa only.Similarly, only passengers originating from countries in the EU/Schengenarea, South America or Africa should be allowed to travel on the flights from Netherlands to India.
