Rangoon Air Journey mentioned the variety of clients asking for flights to India has doubled because the announcement of the VTL.

“We normally get about 20 clients a day who’re trying to find flights to India, however at present alone, we’ve obtained greater than 45 calls,” mentioned Mr Jahabar Sadiq, the corporate’s director.

“After the announcement, folks began to name us, message us and even come to our workplace asking for the chances of getting a flight. However thus far, the authorities have solely mentioned when the VTL will probably be launched, we nonetheless don’t know which flights and their schedules, so we are able to solely wait to seek out out extra particulars,” he mentioned.

It’s a comparable scenario at journey company Chola Holidays, the place telephones have been ringing constantly since Monday.

“Now everyone is eager to journey as a result of they know there isn’t a quarantine and there’s a direct flight to India, so demand for flights has elevated loads,” mentioned Mr Balu Venkatesh, the company’s director.

“We’re already seeing excessive demand for the Vande Bharat Mission (VBM), with flights (for this month) already all absolutely booked about three to 4 weeks in the past,” he added, referring to a programme by the Indian authorities to repatriate Indian nationals from world wide amid the pandemic. 

“So, with the 2 VTL flights per day, it should undoubtedly assist extra folks to get a seat, however it additionally means extra folks will need to go journey now.”Mr Sadiq mentioned demand for flights have been rising, regardless of rising ticket costs.

“The value for the VBM flights has already gone as much as S$500 for only one approach. Beneath a standard state of affairs, you can get a return ticket at round S$400,” he mentioned.