New Delhi : Germany based airline major Lufthansa has canceled all flights between Germany and India till 20th October. According to Lufthansa, it has taken this step after Indian authorities rejected the company’s planned flight schedule for October. According to the airline, India has not yet accepted the invitation of the German government to negotiate the Temporary Travel Agreement.
As per the official sources, during the time of the epidemic, ‘July Air Bubble’ agreement was signed between India and Germany in which citizens of both countries were allowed to travel to Germany and India. Significantly, India and Germany formally launched the air bubble in July this year. Air bubble arrangement is a temporary arrangement for resuming operations of commercial passenger flights between two countries.
At the same time, DGCA said that the number of flights to Lufthansa operated in a week is 20. While Indian airlines operate only three to four flights a week. Despite this difference, we offered seven flights a week to Lufthansa, which was not accepted by them.
As against Indian carriers operating 3-4 flights a week, Lufthansa operated 20 flights a week. In spite of this disparity we offered to clear 7 flights a week for Lufthansa which was not accepted by them. Negotiations continue. (3/3)
— DGCA (@DGCAIndia) September 29, 2020
Lufthansa said in a statement that it had planned to operate flights in October to connect Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru with Germany and other European countries. Permission to conduct special flights was sought by the end of September. This demand has not been accepted by India. The company has said that the Indian authorities and the German government need to negotiate soon so that thousands of Indians and other citizens of other countries do not face any trouble.