Since early march, India, like most countries, have had limited and controlled air travel. In an attempt to reestablish commercial travel, select countries have created air bubbles. An air bubble is a non permanent agreement between countries where passengers that meet a set criteria can fly. It is a win win situation for all players. Airlines get to open back up to customers (even if it is limited) and those that need to get to their home country can.
Some of the countries that have an air bubble with India are the U.S, UK, Japan, Germany, France, Afghanistan, and Canada. There are supposed to be many more countries to open an air bubble up with India in the near future.
However, there are some countries that have completely banned travel to India due to the high Covid rates in the country. Hong Kong, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia are among the few.
There are specific criteria needed to enter the air bubble with India: Citizens or those with a green card, children who hold OCI cards and who’s parents are Indian nationals, seamen holding Indian passports, Indians with Japanese visas, any Indian holding a Nigerian visa.
I believe that this is an important step towards the world returning to normalcy. Many people still may not be able to travel, but some can, which means that we are going in the right direction. It is naive to believe that by the snap of our fingers everything will be the same, however, taking small steps in the right direction, is better than nothing. Because if we put together 20 of these small steps, then eventually there will be a big change back to normalcy.
By establishing these bubbles, India is setting a precedent for smaller countries in the middle east and south Asia to follow. The smaller countries, can watch and learn from what works in India in limiting Covid spread and what doesn’t.
I also think that by opening up the country slowly, India’s return to full normalcy will have its economy stronger than ever. Much like WW2, there will be a huge work force in need of jobs, and there will be a large opening of jobs no longer restricted by Covid. Therefore, the economy do fantastic once everything opens up again due to India taking smart precautions.