Lufthansa cancels Indian flights amid route rights row

Lufthansa is calling for a temporary agreement between Germany and India after it was forced to cancel flights to the country until 20 October amid a row over access under the current travel bubble arrangements. Germany was one of several countries India negotiated a “travel bubble” agreement with in the summer to enable the restoration of limited services between the two countries as coronavirus-related travel restrictions began to be eased. But Lufthansa says it has been forced to cancel all its planned flights between Germany and India from 30 September until 20 October after its application was “unexpectedly blocked” by the Indian authorities. The carrier says it had applied for the continuation of special flights it was granted to operate until the end of September, noting that India has so far ”not accepted the invitation by the German government to discuss details regarding a temporary travel agreement between both countries”. Lufthansa had been planning to restore Chennai flights in October in addition to the Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai flights it has operated since June. India’s transport ministry says there are restrictions in place on Indian nationals wishing to travel to Germany “which was putting Indian carriers at a significant disadvantage resulting in inequitable distribution of traffic in favour of Lufthansa”. It adds: “As against Indian carriers operating three to four flights a week, Lufthansa operated 20 flights a week. In spite of this disparity, we offered to clear seven flights a week to Lufthansa, which was not accepted by them. Negotiations continue.”<br/>