The first flight from India arrived today morning from the South Indian city of Kochi as part of the air bubble agreement between the two countries. Jazeera Airways confirmed to The Times Kuwait that a full flight carrying 174 passengers landed at around 6.00 am today bringing in regular passengers after almost 18 months.
The Kuwait cabinet increased the daily arrival quota to 10,000 on Monday paving the way for flights from the 6 banned countries to resume with conditions that require passengers to be fully vaccinated by approved vaccines such as Astrazeneca, Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson.
Earlier the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation has set a daily quota of 790 passengers per day from India before dropping it down to 768 passengers in its communique today.
As per the communique the daily quota for arrivals from India is set at 5378 per week, equivalent to about 768 per day, divided between Kuwaiti and Indian carriers.
Ticket fares have skyrocket due to the demand and prices for some destinations are reaching almost 10 times the previous rate for one way fares. Prices for one way tickets are being quoted between KD 500 to KD 1,000 but are expected to drop from the present highs in the coming weeks as the momentum of flights pick up.
Indian carriers are yet to announce their fares and flight schedule but reliable sources from the airline industry expected it to be announced today
It is estimated that more than 50,000 Indians are expected to return after direct flights were suspended for almost 18 months from India to Kuwait.