Flights between India and the U.K. under a bilateral agreement will kick off on September 1, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday.
“Similar arrangements with others, including our neighbouring countries, are expected soon,” said an MEA official.
The U.K. is the seventh country to tie up with India for a limited number of flights. India has so far tied up with the U.S., France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Maldives. Scheduled international flights from other countries remain suspended, though chartered flights for repatriation are permitted from time to time.
Two Indian carriers, SpiceJet and Vistara, are known to have bagged a slot at London’s Heathrow airport, which will be the farthest destination to be connected in their international network. IndiGo is also exploring possibility of starting flights to London.
Since the collapse of Jet Airways, Air India is the only carrier to fly on long haul and ultra long haul routes. Most other carriers only service short-haul international routes such as Singapore, Dubai, Qatar, Vietnam and Turkey.
Meanwhile, the Vande Bharat mission, under which Air India operates chartered flights, crossed the 10 lakh mark on August 11, the MEA said.
