Air India opens booking for International flights to US, starting July 22

New Delhi, July 20: Under the fourth phase of Vande Bharat Mission, Air India has opened bookings for International flights to the United States starting July 22.

The airline has announced 180 flights, bookings for which can be made on its official website, booking offices or authorised travel agents.

Air India and domestic private carriers are allowed to operate flights under the programme which has pre-fixed ticket charges.

Air India has proposed a 60 per cent salary cut for pilots amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected 55 of its cockpit crew members.

The aviation sector has been significantly impacted due to the travel restrictions imposed in India and other countries in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. All airlines in India have taken cost-cutting measures such as pay cuts, LWP and firings of employees in order to conserve cash flow.

Air India has a debt of around Rs 70,000 crore and the government started the process to sell it to a private entity in January this year. The national carrier''s net loss in 2018-19 was around Rs 8,500 crore.

Scheduled international passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

After nearly two months of suspension to combat the coronavirus outbreak, the government resumed scheduled domestic passenger flights on May 25.

However, it had then allowed the airlines to operate maximum 33 per cent of their pre-COVID domestic flights. The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MOCA) increased the limits on June 26 from 33 per cent to 45 per cent.