Union Health Ministry, India issued fresh travel guidelines for international passengers. The new guidelines came into effect from February 22, 2021, until further orders. The norms were issued keeping in view the spread of three SARS-CoV-2variantsviz-a-viz (i) UK variant (ii) South Africa variant and (iii) Brazil variant, which have been found in 86, 44, and 15 countries, respectively.

The new guidelines apply to all international travelers flying/transiting through flights originating from the United Kingdom, Middle East, and Europe. For the next 14 days, international travelers arriving from these three countries will have to reveal their travel history.

The guidelines are:

• Before their scheduled travel, all international passengers will have to submit a Self Declaration Form (SDF) and a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR report on the Air Suvidha portal.
• The test should have been conducted 72 hours prior to the journey and the passenger will also need to submit a declaration confirming the authenticity of the report.
• Only asymptomatic travelers can board the flight after the thermal screening.
• Only international travelers should follow the COVID-19 protocols i.e. wear masks, maintain social distance. They should have also downloaded the Aarogya Setu app.
• Except for the online registration facility, the rest of the protocols remain the same for international passengers arriving via sea or land.
• Passengers arriving from/transiting through the United Kingdom, Brazil, and South Africa (during the past 14 days) should be identified by the airlines and segregated in-flight.
• Passengers arriving from/transiting through flights originating in the United Kingdom, Europe, or the Middle East will be subjected to self-paid confirmatory tests at the port of entry (Indian airport).
• International passengers arriving from Europe and the Middle East to give samples at the designated area and exit from the airport. If the test result is negative, they will have to self-quarantine themselves at home for 14 days. If, however, the test result is positive, then they will have to get treated as per standard health protocol.

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, currently, international flights to and from India are only being operated per the air bubble agreements with different countries. All other international flights remain suspended. Domestic flights resumed in India from May last year.

An air bubble is a temporary agreement between two countries to allow their national airlines to carry passengers without restrictions. This helps travelers avoid quarantine and COVID-19 testing rules upon arrival. The Air Bubble Agreement is a bilateral air corridor between various countries to ease travel restrictions put in place by different countries due to the coronavirus pandemic.

India has formal air bubble agreements with 22 countries. Tanzania, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Oman have been recently added to the list. The previous additions included countries such as the United States, Canada, France, Germany, among others. Review the rules and guidelines adopted by these countries before making your travel plans.