News Analysis India

Tag: Bahrain

  • Lufthansa to operate flights between India and Germany via Bahrain instead of Dubai

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Lufthansa said it will operate its 10 weekly flights between India and Germany via Bahrain instead of Dubai from Sunday due to recent restrictions imposed by the UAE government to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

    The German airline said in a statement, “This change was made due to new UAE regulations that restrict flights between India and Dubai for passengers who were transiting there up to now for operational reason.

    ” From May 16, all 10 weekly flights between Frankfurt in Germany and Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore in India will transit in Bahrain, it said.

    Instead of operating non-stop flights between India and Germany, Lufthansa had been operating its 10 India flights via Dubai so that the flight crew need not do a layover in India.

    Currently, the cockpit crew change happens in the Gulf country instead of India.

    Lufthansa Group runs Lufthansa airline as well as SWISS airline connecting India with Germany.

    The group’s decision has come at a time when India and its aviation sector has been badly hit by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    During the last few weeks, the number of domestic air passengers per day has come down from more than 2.

    2 lakh to around 75,000, according to the Civil Aviation Ministry’s data.

    Similarly, international air traffic has also been affected by the second wave of the pandemic.

    Lufthansa Group said on Sunday its flights to India continue supporting urgent relief efforts for the country.

    “They have been delivering tons of medical goods containing vaccines, respirators and oxygen concentrators with more to come,” the airline’s statement noted.

    With 3.

    11 lakh fresh coronavirus infections, India saw the lowest rise in daily cases after a gap of 25 days, while the death toll rose to 2,70,284 with 4,077 new fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.

    A total of 3,11,170 new cases were reported in a day, taking India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases to 2,46,84,077.

    Scheduled international passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 23 last year.

    However, India has formed air bubble arrangements with around 27 countries, including Germany, since July last year to operate special international passenger flights under restrictions.

     

  • India and Bahrain take stock of ties

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Ahead of Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani’s India visit, the two countries on Wednesday reviewed cooperation in areas of oil and gas, trade and investment, defence and security, healthcare and renewable energy.

    The review was carried out at a virtual meeting of senior officials of the two sides as part of the preparation for the upcoming India-Bahrain High Joint Commission (HJC) dialogue, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

    The third HJC will be held in New Delhi on April 7 and the meeting will be co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Bahraini counterpart Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, it said.

    About the meeting of the senior officials, the MEA said both sides highlighted their strong bilateral ties spanning a wide range of areas, adding it was reflected in the excellent cooperation in handling the COVID-19 situation.

    “Both sides also reviewed their cooperation in different areas, including oil and gas, trade and investment, defence and security, food security, healthcare, renewable energy, space, IT, human resource, education and culture,” the MEA said in a statement.

    The senior officials’ meeting was co-chaired by Sanjay Bhattacharyya, Secretary (Consular, Passport and Visa division) in the MEA, and Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Under Secretary in Bahraini foreign ministry.

    Bahrain is a key country for India in the Gulf region.

    More than 3,50,000 Indians are living in Bahrain.

  • Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Says ‘significant Progress’ Made To End Gulf Crisis

    Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister on December 4 expressed hope about reaching an agreement in ending the decades-long Saudi-led Qatar’s boycott by the four Arab nations, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. His remarks were followed by Kuwait hinting that it held ‘significant’ dialogues to resolve the Gulf crisis. During Italy’s annual Mediterranean dialogues, Saudi Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the kingdom’s foreign minister, said: ‘We’ve made significant progress in the last few days.’ 

    Meanwhile, in a televised statement read by Al-Sabah on Kuwait TV, Kuwaiti’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Sabah stated, “Fruitful discussion” was held as disputing sides expressed keenness in resolving long-existing territorial issues. He further thanked White House senior adviser Jared Kushner for his “recent efforts” for brokering peace negotiations between blockading nations during his Qatar and Saudi Arabia visit.

    The Qataris Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani extended gratitude to the Kuwaiti administration for mediation in the GCC crisis. Earlier this year, Qatar negotiated with Saudi Arabia fulfilling at least thirteen demands from the Kingdom and other Gulf nations that have imposed the trade, land and sea embargo on Qatar in a diplomatic rift, and shut airspace to state-run Qatar Airways.

  • Hyderabad airport adds new international terminal building

    A new but temporary international terminal has become operational at the Shamshabad International Airport in Hyderabad with 15 flights taking off on the first day.

    The new building spread over 1,00,000 square feet has come up adjacent to the Haj terminal, slightly away from the main terminal building.

    Officials said that the Interim International Departure Terminal was being used in view of the expansion work at the main terminal building to be completed in next two to three years. The new building has 30 to 40 check in counters and 20 immigration counters.

    The first flight to take off from the new terminal was Indigo flight to Dubai with 173 passengers. 15 flights, which took off on the first day were bound to destinations like Muscat, Bahrain, Jeddah, Singapore and Bangkok. A total of 2500 passengers passed through the terminal on the inaugural day.

    GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd., officials said that the new terminal building will also be used for some of the domestic flights of Air India. A shuttle service was also being operated between the two terminal buildings and the distance takes around five minutes to cover.