New Delhi, September 21: After nearly five months of suspension, the direct flights between India and Canada have finally resumed. Canada's largest airline, Air Canada, has resumed operations in India after the long suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Air Canada has restarted its Delhi-Toronto nonstop flights with a new protocol that WHO-approved vaccinated passengers must undergo an RT-PCR within 18 hours of boarding its flights from the COVID-19 Testing Centre and Lounge at Delhi Airport’s Terminal 3.

Responding to a passenger's query on resumption of flights to India, Air Canada said on Twitter that it is resuming flight to Delhi."Yes, the route is resuming," Air Canada replied to a Twitter user.  In April this year, Air Canada had suspended its operation in India due to the sudden surge in COVID-19 cases. Airlines Can Operate 85% of Pre-COVID-19 Domestic Flights.

In its notification, the airline said that the passengers who plan to travel to Canada (Toronto) must carry an RT-PCR test or Rapid PCR test taken not more than 18 hours before departure. The first post-resumption flight AC 42 (Toronto-Delhi) is going to land at the destination around 9 pm on Monday to fly passengers from here starting Tuesday.

"The only accepted COVID-19 tests are an RT-PCR test or a rapid PCR test that must be taken no more than 18 hours before your departing Air Canada flight to Canada from the COVID-19 Testing Centre & Lounge across from Terminal 3 at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi," the airline said. "Air Canada requires either of these specific tests. No other test from any other clinic within India will be accepted, even if you are connecting from a different city," it added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 21, 2021 09:05 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).