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NEW DELHI – The arrival of coronavirus-infected passengers on flights from India remains a concern for other countries at a time when the Indian government is attempting to increase international air passenger traffic through bilateral travel bubbles.
On Tuesday (September 22), Saudi Arabia, a key destination for Indian migrant workers, suspended air travel to and from India amid concerns over possible imported cases.
This development comes after authorities in Hong Kong and Dubai imposed temporary bans on two airlines, Air India and Air India Express, last week for flying Covid-19 positive passengers to these two cities.
Hong Kong banned Air India for a fortnight until October 3, after one of its flights to the city on September 18 carried six infected passengers.
The Hong Kong government tightened regulations this month by stipulating that any airline carrying five or more Covid-19 passengers on a flight will be banned from flying into the city, a report in the South China Morning Post said. This prohibition would also apply if you operate two consecutive flights with three or more diagnosed passengers.
This is the second time that Hong Kong authorities have banned Air India. Last month, the airline received a similar two-week suspension order, after it transported 14 Covid-19 positive passengers to the city on August 11.
Prior to this, Air India Express received a 15-day ban from the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority on September 17. This was because the airline’s ground handling agents were unable to prevent two passengers with positive Covid-19 reports from boarding flights to Dubai: one from Delhi on August 28 and the other from Jaipur on September 4.
However, the suspension order was revoked on September 18 after an apology and assurance of better pre-shipment checks, an Air India Express spokesperson told The Straits Times.
India has recorded more than 5.6 million confirmed cases of Covid-19, but serosurveys indicate a much greater spread of the infection that does not yet show any convincing signs of having peaked. As a result, several countries now require visitors traveling from India to have a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test performed within 72 hours of departure to certify that they are negative.
As of September 17, Singapore introduced this requirement for travelers from India who are not Singapore citizens or permanent residents. This is in addition to the existing requirement of a 14-day stay-at-home notice (SHN) at the dedicated facility and a negative Covid-19 test prior to the end of your isolation. Between September 17 and 21, almost two-thirds of imported cases from Singapore had visited India.
The city-state further tightened its restrictions this week. As of Wednesday (September 23), all travelers, including Singapore citizens and permanent residents, with a history of travel to India in the last 14 days prior to arriving in Singapore, will be required to undergo a serological test. The test detects the presence of antibodies and can show if the person might have been infected.
Hong Kong also requires visitors to India to have a negative “nucleic acid test” report taken 72 hours prior to departure, along with proof that the test was performed in a laboratory recognized by the local government. Travelers must also have a Hong Kong hotel room reservation for no less than 14 days from the day of arrival.
An Air India spokesperson told The Straits Times that the airline has “strictly adhered” to all passenger screening requirements for flights to international destinations and that where applicable only passengers with negative Covid reports are allowed on board.
He said that passengers are retested for Covid-19 after landing in Hong Kong and the results “may vary from test reports conducted 72 hours before taking the flight.”
“Therefore, Air India is not responsible for any gaps in the subject of passenger test reports,” he added.
The ban led to the cancellation of an Air India flight to Hong Kong scheduled for September 21.
The Indian government has been creating travel bubbles with other countries to allow for smoother international air traffic. It has such an arrangement with 13 countries. Scheduled regular commercial flights have been suspended in India since March 25.
With limited options for flying abroad, there has been a demand for international chartered flights to destinations with fewer services, including Hong Kong.
Pradeep Sharma, director of Kolkata-based Agwani Travels, said his agency has arranged two such flights to Hong Kong with Singapore Airlines. He is working on three more flights next month to the city.
“The kind of documentation that Hong Kong requires is very difficult for anyone to obtain within 72 hours of departure. Often times, final approval of a flight occurs only 48 hours before departure,” he said.
Kuwait also bans commercial flights to and from “high risk” countries like India, forcing many Indian migrant workers to fly to the UAE and spend additional money on a 14-day quarantine there before heading to Kuwait.
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