German airline Lufthansa on Tuesday, 29 September, announced that it has cancelled all planned flights between India and Germany till 20 October, due to “unexpected rejection of the airline's planned flight schedule for October by Indian authorities”.
"Lufthansa had applied for the continuation of special flights it was granted to operate until the end of September. This application process is necessary since India has so far not accepted the invitation by the German government to discuss details regarding a temporary travel agreement between both countries," Lufthansa said, according to Livemint.
“Due to the Indian government’s unexpected rejection of Lufthansa’s planned flight schedule for October, Lufthansa will now have to cancel all planned flights between Germany and India between 30 September and 20 October,” the airline wrote on Twitter.
What Did DGCA Say?
Responding to the development, India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that India had formalised an air bubble agreement with Germany in July.
“However, there are restrictions in place for Indians desiring to travel to Germany which was putting Indian carriers at a disadvantage resulting in an inequitable distribution of traffic in favour of Lufthansa,” the DGCA said, according to ANI.
According to the DGCA, as against Indian carriers operating 3-4 flights a week , Lufthansa operated 20 flights a week. However, the DGCA said that it nevertheless offered to clear seven flights a week for Lufthansa which was not accepted by them, leading to the cancellation of all flights.
However, the DGCA added that negotiations are continuing.
'Air Bubble' travel arrangements are established between two countries under a certain set of safety and passenger travelling conditions, such as high demand, legal entry and exit norms and airlines' willingness to operate on these sectors.
India has air bubble arrangements with 13 countries including USA, UK, France, Germany and Canada.
(With inputs from ANI and Livemint.)
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