International Flights: Air India Express Announces Special Flights From Jeddah to Kozhikode, Lucknow, Opens Booking | Full Schedule Here

International Flights: Indian passengers looking forward for home return, here comes a piece of good news for you. At this time of pandemic, you can safely fly back to your hometown. Taking to Twitter, Air India Express on Saturday announced fresh flights from Jedda in Saudi Arabia to  Kozhikode in Kerala and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. The airline also stated that it opened bookings for the tickets. Notably, these flights will be operated under the Central government’s Vande Bharat Mission.

“It’s time to fly home. This Eid, let’s fly to our loved ones. Introducing special flights from #Jeddah to #Kozhikode & #Lucknow! Bookings are open,” the airline said in a statement.

As per the schedule shared by the airline on its Twitter handle, the flights from Jedda to Kozhikode will start on July 15 and 17. The flights will depart from Jeddah at 11 AM and will land in Kozhikode at 7:20 PM.

In the similar manner, the Air India Express will run flights from Jeddah to Lucknow on July 16 and 18. As per the schedule, the flights will depart from Jeddah at 11 Am and will land in Lucknow at 7:30 PM.

Full schedule here: 

Earlier, Air India Express had announced flight services to Singapore for July 2021. As per the latest schedule shared by the airline, Air India Express has started the operation of flights to Singapore from Chennai, Trichy, Kochi and Hyderabad.

In the meantime, the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said that it hopes other countries to ease the travel restrictions to India as soon as possible. The MEA also added that the matter is being taken up with partners including those in the Gulf.

Last month, the DGCA has extended the ban on the commercial flights till July 31. Issuing an order, the DGCA said that the international scheduled flights will be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case-to-case basis.

Since March 3, 2020, the scheduled international passenger services have been suspended in India due to COVID pandemic. However, special international flights have been operating under the Vande Bharat Mission since May 2020 and under bilateral “air bubble” arrangements with selected countries since July 2020.

It must be noted that India has formed air bubble agreements with around 24 countries so far including the US, the UK, the UAE, Kenya, Bhutan and France. Under an air bubble agreement, the special international flights are being operated by their airlines between their territories.