New Delhi: After almost a gap of more than five months, direct flight services between Canada and India will resume from Monday.
Transport Canada on Saturday tweeted: “Beginning at 00:01 EDT on September 27, direct flights from India can land in Canada with additional public health measures in place.”
Once the restriction is lifted, passengers eligible to enter Canada and travelling on those flights will need to:
- Obtain a pre-departure negative COVID-19 molecular test result from the Genestrings Laboratory, located above the metro station in the Airport Connect Building (ACB) at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
- Perform this test within 18 hours before their scheduled departure
- Present the test report with a QR code issued by this laboratory to the air operator before boarding
Travellers, who have previously tested positive for COVID-19, can present a positive molecular test issued by a certified laboratory in India and collected between 14 and 180 days before their scheduled departure, it added.
Welcoming the decision, India’s high commissioner to Canada Ajay Bisaria tweeted: “@airindiain and @AirCanada are now set to run daily flights between Delhi and Toronto/Vancouver from 27 September. Working with Canadian partners to further ease travel,”
Canada had banned all direct flights to and from India following a resurgence in COVID cases in April.
Notably, passengers travelling via an indirect route still need to provide a pre-departure negative COVID-19 molecular test result from a third country before continuing their journey to Canada.
