As Govt cancels to and fro flights from UK amid new Covid 19 variant; Know what people think about air bubble pacts

Even as the government has temporarily suspended flights to and from the UK amid concerns of an "out of control" new variant of coronavirus spreading COVID-19 at a much faster pace in parts of England, 50 per cent of the respondents of a survey wants air bubble agreement with some other countries to be put on-hold.

Besides, as many as 41 per cent of the respondents wanted mandatory 14-day quarantine for passengers arriving from impacted countries -- the UK, South Africa, the Netherlands, Denmark and Australia, said online platform LocalCircles on Monday.

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The findings are based on over 7,000 responses received from citizens across 202 districts for the survey, which was conducted between Sunday evening and Monday morning, it said.

The government has just announced a ban on all flights from the United Kingdom from midnight December 22nd till December 31st in light of the new virus mutation that has been reported in London and several parts of the United Kingdom, LocalCircles said in a release.

Followed by many nations like Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium imposing a ban on the flights from the UK, as a precautionary measure, citizens of India had been raising the demand for the government to impose a similar ban on flights from the UK, it said.

"This is a fast and decisive action on part of the government and citizens are appreciative of the same. India has come a long way and cases have reduced from almost 90,000 a day in September to 25,000 a day. By acting on this, India can hopefully ensure that the downward trajectory continues?, said Sachin Taparia, Founder & Chairman, LocalCircles.

"Also, the approach of a flight ban that lasts nine days only for now makes sense to see how the situation develops and a call for resumption or ban extension can be taken on December 31st," he added.

Basis feedback from citizens, LocalCircles initiated a survey seeking inputs from citizens on the emergence of a new variant of coronavirus and government's approach on the bubble flights, said the release.

"Notably, 50 per cent citizens want bubble flights from impacted countries suspended, while 41 per cent want mandatory 14-day quarantine for arriving passengers instead. Only six per cent of citizens voted that India should continue with current rules treating flights from these countries similar to others," it said.

India followed Germany, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Bulgaria, the Irish Republic, Turkey, Canada and Hong Kong in suspending flights. France became the latest European country to close all its borders with Britain.

Based on the feedback from citizens, LocalCircles escalated the findings of this survey with senior leadership of the Central Government for immediate consideration.

According to a civil aviation ministry statement, all flights originating from the UK to India will be temporarily suspended until 11:59 pm on December 31, with the suspension to start from 11.59 pm on December 22.

"As a measure of abundant precaution, passengers arriving from the UK in all transit flights (flights that have taken off or flights which are reaching India before 22nd Dec at 23.59 hrs) should be subject to mandatory RT-PCR test on arrival at the airports concerned," the ministry added.

Of the over 7,000 responses, 67 per cent respondents were men and remaining 33 per cent women. Also, as many as 56 per cent respondents were from tier 1 cities and 26 per cent from tier 2, the remaining 18 per cent respondents were from tier 3, 4 cities as well as rural districts, said the release.