Starting today, passengers flying into India no longer need to go through the long Immigration process and need to fill out and submit a form called an Air Suvidha Form. As of Nov 22, 2022, passengers will simply need to provide their passport details and itinerary along with any additional documentation required for their destination. This change is part of an effort to make air travel easier and less stressful for everyone.
For too long, foreign tourists coming to India by booking affordable flight tickets to India had to endure a complicated and lengthy immigration process. But no more! India recently ended the requirement that visitors complete an Air Suvidha form. Now, international visitors can simply show their passport and landing card upon arrival.
This is a great step forward for tourism in the country, and it’s one more step toward making India a more accessible and welcoming destination with the best travel offers.
-
India – A big player in Aviation Industry
India is the world’s third-largest aviation market, after the United States and China, and the fastest-growing. With roots in the 1930s, the history of Indian aviation is inextricably linked with that of Air India and state control.
The civil aviation industry in India has emerged as one of the fastest growing industries in the country over the last three years and can be broadly classified into scheduled air transport service, which includes domestic and international airlines with affordable flight tickets to India services, non-scheduled air transport service, which includes charter operators and air taxi operators, and air cargo service, which includes air transportation of cargo and mail. Domestic traffic accounts for approximately 69% of total airline traffic in South Asia, and India’s airport capacity is expected to handle 1 billion trips annually by 2023.
-
Post – Pandemic impacts on Indian aviation:
The Indian aviation industry has fully recovered from the covid-19 pandemic shock, as evidenced by an increase of 104.24% in air traffic movement to 613,566 in the first quarter of FY 2022-23 from 300,405 in the same period last year. India currently has the world’s seventh-largest civil aviation market and is expected to become the third-largest in the next ten years. Indigo is India’s largest airline providing the best travel offers and has the highest market share. India has surpassed the United Kingdom to become the world’s third-largest domestic aviation market, and experts anticipate it will overtake the UK as the third-largest air passenger market by 2024.
-
Air Suvidha – A brief intro
The government introduced Air Suvidha as a COVID-19 prevention measure to aid in contact tracing during the pandemic. Delhi Airport made available a contactless solution, developed by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to all international passengers visiting India via the best affordable India packages.
-
Air Suvidha to discontinue
Starting November 22, 2022, India will discontinue the Air Suvidha self-declaration form. Consequently, beginning November 21-22, midnight, India will no longer require passengers flying in to fill out the Air Suvidha form or take the RT-PCR COVID-19 test.
According to the Financial Express, Air India intends to add 20 weekly non stop flights from USA to India and the United Kingdom between October and December. “Air India says it will plan to offer around 5,000 more seats per week with 5 additional flights per week to Birmingham, and 9 extra flights per week to London.
For international passengers, India has eliminated the requirement to submit Air Suvidha forms. Furthermore, government officials announced that, starting at midnight on November 22nd, they would no longer require submission of declaration forms from international passengers.
As stated in a Civil Aviation Ministry announcement, “In view of the general decline in COVID-19 vaccination coverage, both internationally and in India, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has published new ‘Guidelines for International Arrivals.”
Air Suvidha established a self-declaration form as a Covid-19 preventive tool to facilitate contact tracing during the pandemic.
Delhi Airport made available a contactless solution, developed by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to all foreign travelers visiting India.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the decision to suspend self-deceleration will take effect on November 22.
-
The following are the most recent ministry guidelines on international travel:-
- All travelers arriving in India with affordable flight tickets should preferably have received full Covid-19 vaccination per their country’s approved schedule.
- Standard protocol requires isolating any traveling passenger experiencing Covid-19 symptoms.
- The person in question should don a mask, isolate themselves from other passengers during the flight/travel, and then proceed to an isolated facility for further treatment.
- De-boarding should take place after social distancing.
- Health officials should subject all passengers to thermal screening at the point of entry.
- Screening personnel must immediately isolate and transport symptomatic passengers to a designated medical facility following health protocol.
- All travelers should self-monitor their health after arrival and report to the nearest health facility or call the National helpline number (1075) or the state helpline number in case of an emergency.
