Average fares on air bubble flights comparable to pre-pandemic level: Govt

Average economy class fares on flights of Air India, United Airlines and Lufthansa, operating under the 'air bubble' arrangement currently, are comparable to the average fares of pre-pandemic era, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said on Monday.

Scheduled international passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 23 last year, when the coronavirus pandemic had started spreading across the world.

However, since July last year, India has formed bilateral air bubble arrangements with around 31 countries so that special international passenger flights -- with certain restrictions -- could be operated.

"As per details of fare submitted by Air India (the only Indian carrier operating to Europe and North America), United Airlines (operating between India and USA) and Lufthansa (operating between India and Germany), average fares for travel by economy class, under the air travel bubble arrangements, are comparable to the average fares during winter 2019 schedule (pre-Covid)," Singh said in his written response to a question in Rajya Sabha.

The Centre had on December 1 decided not to resume scheduled international flights from December 15, less than a week after announcing the decision in the wake of rising concerns over the COVID variant Omicron.

On the matter of resumption of scheduled international flights, Singh said: "In view of the evolving global scenario with the emergence of new variants of concern, the situation is being closely monitored and reviewed in consultation with other ministries, with regard to taking any further decision on this issue.