India wants to resume direct flights with Canada

Ajay Bisaria, the High Commissioner of India to Canada, met Air India’s Toronto representative to restart flights between India and Canada. Bisaria said that it is of the utmost importance to resume flights between the two countries, especially for the sake of students.
In a tweet, Bisaria mentioned that it is important to rapidly normalise mobility for economic recovery, for achieving normalcy in business, and in education. He further mentioned that he has discussed this with Rachel Lawrence, Air India’s Toronto Representative, and a plan is being drawn to restart flights as there is a pressing need for travellers, especially students.

Bisaria also met with Ontario Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction, Nina Tangri, to discuss the need for the resumption of flights, and took to Twitter to thank her for the meeting, and further said that India is looking forward to normalise mobility, and strengthening of ties with Ontario.
Canada had banned all direct flights from India on April 22, after COVID cases in India surged to a great degree. Since then, the ban has not been lifted, as it keeps getting extended. The ban is currently in place until July 21.

However, there have been slight changes in the entry rules from July 5, as Canada’s Public Health Agency has eased travel restriction in the first phase. As of now, fully vaccinated citizens, and permanent residents are not required to observe the mandatory quarantine period. The same rule also applied to workers with valid work permits, international students, and relatives of permanent residents.