India has listed Kenya among several countries it will sign a deal with for special flights amid a lockdown of its airspace due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
India’s Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday that the Asian country will sign bilateral deals with more than a dozen countries to specifically allow flights into and out of their territories, in a quid pro quo understanding.
“We are now taking these efforts forward and are negotiating with 13 more countries to establish such arrangements,” Hardeep Singh Puri said on Twitter.
The countries are Kenya, Australia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Bahrain, Israel, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.
Emergency cases
This comes a week after Kenya’s High Commissioner to India, Willy Bett, revealed to the Nation that he had proposed special unrestricted flights, especially those bringing emergency cases back home.
With India on lockdown since March, the airspace has been shut and only repatriation flights have been allowed under special circumstances.
The country’s latest lockdown is supposed to last throughout August but with local cases rising by an average of 50,000 a day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi could extend it.
The diplomat told the Nation that Kenya has been negotiating with Indian authorities, especially those in charge of aviation regulations, for a special passage.
“We are negotiating so that Kenya Airways is allowed at least two special flights to and from India every end month,” said Mr Bett.
Bubble deal
The high commissioner argued the idea is to keep a window for affordable care open to Kenyans especially now that the health system is getting stretched by the virus.
“I see a travel bubble arrangement as a long-term solution that will bring consistency and enable those seeking medical care to plan as a schedule will be in place.”
The discussions, he said, ended on Tuesday and Indian authorities will make a decision before the end of the week.
Kenya Airways has already airlifted about 500 Kenyans stranded in India under a special permission from New Delhi and will on Wednesday fly home another group of about 223.
“The travel bubble deal will be ready by next month, Mr Bett assured the Nation.”