Lok Sabha Question No. 3794 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-18
Subject: Flights under Vande Bharat Mission
Ministry: CIVIL AVIATION
Asked by: Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: : 3794 (To be answered 0 the 18th March 2021)

## FLIGHTS UNDER VANDE BHARAT MISSION

## 3794. COL. RAJYAVARDHAN RATHORE

Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION

be pleased to state: -

- (a) the total number of inbound and outbound flights flown under Vande Bharat Mission;
- (b) the total number of passengers that have taken these flights;
- (c) the details of the countries and foreign airlines covered under Vande Bharat Mission and Air Bubbles;
- (e) the average time taken by Air India to refund amounts for cancelled tickets; and
- f) the number of cancelled tickets for which reimbursements are to be processed and reasons for the delay? yet

## ANSWER

(Shri Hardeep Singh Puri)

(a) to (c): Under the Vande Bharat Mission; special repatriation flights have been operated by Air India group and private Indian carriers, along with chartered flights operated by both Indian and foreign carriers: As per information provided by the Ministry 0f External Affairs (MEA); till 28.02,.2021, a total of around 19,000 inbound flights have brought passengers to India: Out 0f this total, more than 9,000 flights have been operated by Air India Group while the remaining have been operated by private Indian carriers and foreign carriers. The names of countries from where evacuation has taken place till 28.02.2021 along with number of passengers is available in Annexure-A\_ being

India has formalized air bubble arrangements with 27 countries as on 01.03.2021. These air bubble arrangements provide access directly or through transit facility to more than 100 countries. The names of countries with which air bubble arrangements have been formalized and the names of the foreign carriers which have operated under air bubbles are at Annexure-B

- d) There is no €p On the air fares of air bubbles: The air fare is determined by market forces However; under Vande Bharat Mission, the air fares charged by Indian carriers were regulated:
2. (e) The average time taken by Air India for refund in normal circumstances is 02 weeks. However; in wake %f iarge scale cancellations of flights during COVID-19 pandemic and due to fund constraints, there have been some in processing refunds of these cancelled tickets. delays
3. (f) A large number tickets have been cancelled for which refund is still pending The reason for the delay is mainly due t0 impact on revenue stream of the airline which was severely affected due to the complete stoppage of flights during lockdown period whereas fixed costs had to be incurred.

processed as per the DGCA circular No. 4/1/2020-IR dated 07-10-2020. It may be noted that ticket refund is an ongoing process and refund applications from agents are processed in airline offices: being being

| SL NO COUNTRY NQ OF REPATRIATED INDIAWNS   | SL NO COUNTRY NQ OF REPATRIATED INDIAWNS   | SL NO COUNTRY NQ OF REPATRIATED INDIAWNS   |
|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
| 1                                          | AFGHANISTAN                                | 24831                                      |
| 2                                          | ALGERIA                                    | 1338                                       |
| 3                                          | ANGOLA                                     | 770                                        |
|                                            | ARMENIA                                    | 720                                        |
|                                            | AUSTRALIA                                  | 13225                                      |
|                                            |                                            | 66793                                      |
|                                            | AZARRAIAN                                  |                                            |
|                                            | BANGLADESH                                 | 43622                                      |
| 9                                          | BARBADOS                                   | 78140                                      |
| 10                                         | BELARUS                                    | 232                                        |
| 11                                         | BELGIUM                                    | 296                                        |
| 12                                         | BHUTAN                                     | 2432                                       |
| 13                                         | BRAZIL                                     | 510                                        |
| 14                                         | BRUNEI                                     | 547                                        |
| 15                                         | BULGARIA                                   | 698                                        |
| 16                                         | CAMBODIA                                   | 596                                        |
| 17                                         | CANADA                                     | 82288                                      |
| 18                                         | CHINA                                      | 1267                                       |
| 19                                         | CROATIA                                    | 3                                          |
| 20                                         | DENMARK                                    | 53                                         |
| 21                                         | DJIBOUTI                                   | 326                                        |
| 22                                         | EGYPT                                      | 1892                                       |
| 23                                         | ESTONIA                                    | 6                                          |
| 24                                         | ETHIOPIA                                   | 14025                                      |
| 25                                         | FIJI                                       | 5                                          |
| 26                                         | FINLAND                                    | 232                                        |
| 27                                         | FRANCE                                     | 64607                                      |
| 28                                         | GEORGIA                                    | 2914                                       |
| 29                                         | GERMANY                                    | 80567                                      |
|                                            | GHANA                                      | 302                                        |
| 31                                         | GREECE                                     | 163                                        |
| 32                                         | HONG KONG                                  | 2784                                       |
| 33                                         | HUNGARY                                    |                                            |
| 34                                         |                                            | 4646                                       |
| 35                                         | IRAN                                       | 6024                                       |
| 36                                         | IRAQ                                       | 13586                                      |
| 37                                         | IRELAND                                    | 485                                        |

| SL NO: COUNTRY NO   | SL NO: COUNTRY NO   | SL NO: COUNTRY NO   |
|---------------------|---------------------|---------------------|
| 38                  | ISRAEL              | 1152                |
| 39                  | ITALY               | 12884               |
| 40                  | JAPAN               | 11530               |
| 41                  | JORDAN              | 838                 |
| 42                  | KAZAKHSTAN          | 3861                |
| 43                  | KENYA               | 11506               |
| 44                  | KUWAIT              | 197372              |
| 45                  | KYRGYZSTAN          | 11297               |
| 46                  | LAOS                | 427                 |
| 47                  | LATVIA              | 5                   |
| 48                  | LEBANON             | 902                 |
| 49                  | MADAGASCAR          | 84                  |
| 50                  | MALAYSIA            |                     |
| 51                  | MALDIVES            | 87380               |
| 52                  | MALI                | 237                 |
| 53                  | MALTA               | 256                 |
| 54                  | MAURITIUS           | 1960                |
| 55                  | MEXICO              | 228                 |
| 56                  | MOLDOVA             | 243                 |
| 57                  | MONGOLIA            | 80                  |
| 58                  | MOROCCO             | 99                  |
| 59                  | MYANMAR             |                     |
| 60                  | NEPAL               | 15921               |
| 61                  | NETHERLANDS         | 22955               |
| 62                  | NEW ZEALAND         | 1897                |
|                     | NIGERIA             | 6501                |
| 64                  | NORWAY              | 267                 |
| 65                  | OMAN                | 265587              |
| 66                  | PAKISTAN            | 683                 |
| 67                  | PHILIPPINES         | 8473                |
| 68                  | POLAND              | 342                 |
| 69                  | PORTUGAL            | 54                  |
| 70                  | QATAR               | 282565              |
| 71                  | ROMANIA             | 8                   |
| 72                  | RUSSIA              | 12474               |
| 73                  | RWANDA              | 2212                |
| 74                  | SAUDI ARABIA        | 438020              |

| COUNTRY WISE NUMBER OF REPATRIATED INDIANS TILL 28.02.2021 COUNIRRY NO @F REPATRIATED INDIAWNS   | COUNTRY WISE NUMBER OF REPATRIATED INDIANS TILL 28.02.2021 COUNIRRY NO @F REPATRIATED INDIAWNS   |   COUNTRY WISE NUMBER OF REPATRIATED INDIANS TILL 28.02.2021 COUNIRRY NO @F REPATRIATED INDIAWNS |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 75                                                                                               | SCOTLAND                                                                                         |                                                                                               38 |
| 76                                                                                               | SEYCHELLES                                                                                       |                                                                                             2610 |
| 77                                                                                               | SINGAPORE                                                                                        |                                                                                            76090 |
| 78                                                                                               | SOUTH AFRICA                                                                                     |                                                                                             1161 |
| 79                                                                                               | SOUTH KOREA                                                                                      |                                                                                             4273 |
| 80                                                                                               | SPAIN                                                                                            |                                                                                             1117 |
| 81                                                                                               | SRI LANKA                                                                                        |                                                                                            20432 |
| 82                                                                                               | SUDAN                                                                                            |                                                                                              125 |
| 83                                                                                               | SWEDEN                                                                                           |                                                                                             1270 |
| 84                                                                                               | SWITZERLAND                                                                                      |                                                                                               30 |
| 85                                                                                               | SYRIA                                                                                            |                                                                                               12 |
| 86                                                                                               | TAIWAN                                                                                           |                                                                                              144 |
| 87                                                                                               | TAJIKISTAN                                                                                       |                                                                                             2382 |
| 88                                                                                               | TANZANIA                                                                                         |                                                                                             7982 |
| 89                                                                                               | THAILAND                                                                                         |                                                                                             5828 |
| 90                                                                                               | TUNISIA                                                                                          |                                                                                               25 |
| 9-                                                                                               | TURKEY                                                                                           |                                                                                             2399 |
| 92                                                                                               | TURKMENISTAN                                                                                     |                                                                                              234 |
| 93                                                                                               | UNITED ARAB EMIRATES                                                                             |                                                                                          2032070 |
| 94                                                                                               | UNITED KINGDOM                                                                                   |                                                                                           181396 |
| 95                                                                                               | UKRAINE                                                                                          |                                                                                             8690 |
| 96                                                                                               | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA                                                                         |                                                                                           320485 |
| 97                                                                                               | UZBEKISTAN                                                                                       |                                                                                             2694 |
| 98                                                                                               | VIETNAM                                                                                          |                                                                                             1681 |
| 99                                                                                               | YEMEN                                                                                            |                                                                                              483 |
| 100                                                                                              | ZIMBABWE                                                                                         |                                                                                                5 |
| 101                                                                                              | OTHERS                                                                                           |                                                                                            15115 |

## List of Countries with which India has formalised Air Bubbles and the foreign airlines operating under Air Bubbles

| SL No   | Country              | Airlines                                    |
|---------|----------------------|---------------------------------------------|
|         | fghanistan           | Ariana Afghan Airlines Kam Air              |
| 2       | Bahrain              | Gulf Air                                    |
| 3       | Bangladesh           | Biman Bangla Novo Air                       |
|         | Bhutan               | US_Bangla Druk Air                          |
|         | Canada               | Air Canada                                  |
|         | Ethiopia             | Ethiopian Airlines                          |
|         | France               | France Air                                  |
|         | Germany              | Lufthansa                                   |
| 9       | lraq                 | Iraqi Airways                               |
| 10      | Japan                | Nippon Airways Japan Airlines_              |
| 11      | Kenya                | Kenya Airways                               |
| 12      | Kuwait               | Jazeera Airways Kuwait Airlines             |
|         | Maldives             | Maldivian                                   |
|         | Nepal                | Nepal Airlines                              |
| 15      | Netherlands          | KLM Royal Dutch Airlines                    |
| 16      | Nigeria              | Not operating_                              |
| 17      | Oman                 | Oman Air Salam Air                          |
| 18      | Qatar                | Qatar_Airways                               |
|         | Russia               | Aeroflot                                    |
| 20      | Rwanda               | Rwand Air                                   |
| [21 122 | Seychelles_ Tanzania | Not operating Air Tanzania                  |
| 123 24  | Ukraine              | Ukraine International Airlines              |
|         | United Kingdom       | British Airways_                            |
|         |                      | Virgin Atlantic_ Air Arabia                 |
| 25      | UAE                  | Emirates Etihad                             |
| 26      | USA                  | Fly Dubai                                   |
|         |                      | Delta Airlines (Code-share_ United Airlines |
| 27      | Uzbekistan           | Uzbekistan Airways                          |