India has created an air bubble arrangement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Indian air carriers and carriers of Saudi Arabia are now permitted to operate flights between India and Saudi Arabia, and carry the following categories of Guest on such flights:

 From India to Saudi Arabia:

i. Nationals/residents of Saudi Arabia; and Type of Saudi Valid Visa Holders.

ii. Any Indian national or national of Nepal or Bhutan holding a valid visa of Saudi Arabia and destined for Saudi Arabia only. It would be for the airlines concerned to ensure that there is no travel restriction for Indian/Nepalese/Bhutanese nationals to enter Saudi Arabia before issue of ticket/boarding pass to the Indian/Nepalese /Bhutanese passenger.

From Saudi Arabia to India:

i. Indian nationals or nationals of Nepal or Bhutan in Saudi Arabia;

ii. Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) cardholders and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) cardholders holding passports of any country. It would be for the airlines concerned to ensure that there is no travel restriction for Non-Indian nationals to enter India with a particular visa category before issuing of ticket/boarding pass to the passenger; and

iii. Saudi Arabian nationals (including diplomats) holding a valid Indian visa as per extant guidelines.

Who is eligible for the air bubble arrangement?

Traffic carried to/from India shall comprise of passengers originating from/destined to Saudi Arabia only, and similarly traffic carried to/from Saudi Arabia shall comprise of passengers originating from/destined to India only.

India to Saudi Arabia flights will resume as per Air Bubble Agreements on a regular basis.

Saudi – India Air Bubble Agreement: What We Know About the Highly Anticipated Travel Arrangement Between this 02 Countries.

When will the Saudi – India bubble take effect?

According to a tweet by the Indian embassy in Riyadh, planned air bubble arrangement will come into effect starting from 01 January 2022.

As per India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation, there are currently 34 countries with air bubble arrangements in place with India as follows: