As international travel restrictions ease amid the sweeping COVID-19 vaccination drive in the country, travel portal MakeMyTrip and India’s largest airlines IndiGo have launched air charter holiday services to Phuket, Thailand.

The charter holiday packages, starting at Rs 40,000, will provide travel services such as airport transfers, travel insurance, Thailand Pass application assistance, check-in and check-out at premium properties, and even return RT-PCR assistance. MakeMyTrip, a Nasdaq-listed online travel company, will start accepting bookings from December for selected dates.

Phuket recently opened its borders to international travellers from 63 countries, including India.

“Indian travellers have been waiting to travel to popular South Asian leisure destinations. We want to bring more destinations within reach,” Vipul Prakash, Chief Operating Officer of MakeMyTrip, told Mint.

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According to Sanjay Kumar, Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer at IndiGo, there has been an increase in demand for leisure travel among Indian travellers.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, two million Indians visited Thailand in 2019, generating 80 billion baht in tourism-related revenue, Thailand's Ministry of Tourism and Sports data revealed. After China and Malaysia, Indians are the third-largest group to visit Thailand.

Welcoming the initiative, Khun Vachirachai Sirisumpan, Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said the Southeast Asian country was looking forward to welcoming Indian travellers again.

The director assured that 15,000 service agents offering services at restaurants and souvenir shops have been awarded the Safety & Health Administration (SHA) certificate and follow strict sanitation measures to ensure safety of travellers.

Meanwhile, in a notification on October 29, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) extended the ban on international scheduled commercial passenger flights till November 30. The ban was supposed to end on October 31.

The restriction does not apply to international cargo operations and flights specifically approved by the DGCA.

The regulatory body also said flights on selected routes approved by competent authority on case-to-case basis may be allowed to operate.

Although India reopened for international tourists in October, scheduled international passenger flights have been suspended in the country since March 23 last year.

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)