The Centre on January 2 said flights to the UK, which had been suspended till January 7 due to the detection of new COVID-19 strain there, will resume from January 6.
Earlier on January 1 the ministry said that flights between India & UK will resume from 8 January 2021.
In tweet on January 2 Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri explained that flights from India to UK will resume from January 6, 2021 while flights from UK to India will resume on January 8,2021.
"It has been decided that flights between India & UK will resume from 8 Jan 2021. Operations till 23 Jan will be restricted to 15 flights per week each for carriers of the two countries to & from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru & Hyderabad only," Puri had earlier said in a tweet, on January 1 adding that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DCGA) will be issuing details regarding the move shortly.
Following this development, Air India will be accommodating those passengers whose flights were scheduled for December 23 in the first flight out after the suspension is revoked.
Air India had earlier contacted passengers on December 22--- a day before the suspension of flights to the UK first became effective--- and had rescheduled their booked flights.
Earlier, the Centre had extended the temporary suspension of flights to and from the UK till January 7, 2021.
The government of India had suspended all flights originating from the UK to India on December 21, effective from the 23rd. The restriction came in view of the rising spread of a new coronavirus strain there.
In India, a total of 29 people have tested positive for the SARS-COV-2 variant so far, which is believed to have a higher rate of transmission.
The UK was one of the 24 nations with whom India had an air travel bubble arrangement. Before the temporary suspension, over 60 flights were operated a week, carrying almost 2,500 passengers a day.
Air India, Vistara, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic were operating services between India and the UK.