As per 2 people who travelled via Frankfurt.... They had their luggage tagged all the way till Toronto ... And got their boarding passes at Delhi itself .... For US you need Transit Visa whether single ticket or connection ...> Are you sure about needing a transit visa in US if you have a single ticket?
> In the case of 2 tickets : Exiting Frankfurt airport may not be possible unless you have a transit visa. You will probably have to go through immigration and customs.
I feel like this conversation would be much easier if we all got on a conference call at a predetermined time
Traveling/Flights to Canada from India during COVID 19
- Thread starter pkhare23
- Start date
@SithLord Thanks for the update above.
Someone recommended the Facebook group(s) - Canadians stranded in India. I took the below snippet from one of the pinned posts. Hope it helps.
NOTE: Removed some flight schedule information as it may not be relevant
Source: I am happy to share via a link if it isn't against the rules of this forum.
----------------------------------------------------------
4. Which airlines can I use to get to Canada?
There are currently no repatriation flights organized by the Canadian High Commission. In earlier ROCA phases, Air India, Air Canada and Qatar Airways were used as repatriation flights for Canadian citizens and accompanying PRs who were immediate family members. These flights departed from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Amritsar and Ahmedabad.
It is currently possible to fly to Canada via KLM, Air France, Lufthansa, and Air India but each airline has different eligibility requirements (addressed in next question).
KLM - route is via Amsterdam. You can book the entire route to Canada.
Air France - route is via Paris. You can book the entire route to Canada.
Lufthansa - route is Mumbai to Frankfurt or Delhi to Munich. You have to book with a separate airline for onward journey to Canada. In some cases you may be able to book entire journey depending on connections and availability of flights.
Qatar Airways - route is Delhi to Doha to Toronto. You can book the entire route to Canada.
United Airlines - route is to USA. You can book a separate ticket from USA to Canada.
Air India - you can fly on direct flights, or transit via London, Zurich, Frankfurt. You have to book your onward flight from Europe to Canada on a separate airline. For example, there are daily flights from London to Toronto on Air Canada.
5. Who is allowed to travel on these special international flights?
There are different eligibility requirements for each airline. PLEASE ensure that you meet these requirements prior to booking or you will be denied boarding.
KLM/Air France Eligibility
1. Canadian citizens
2. PR with spouse who is Canadian citizen. Spouse doesn't need to be travelling with you.
3. PR with child under 18 years who is Canadian citizen. Child doesn't need to be travelling with you.
Eligibility is mentioned here:
https://www.klm.com/travel/in_en/campaigns/travelrestrictions.htm
Lufthansa Eligibility
Canadian citizens and Permanent Residents who are spouses or children (<18 years) of Canadian citizens.
Independent PR holders and PR parents of Canadian citizen children are NOT eligible to book these tickets.
Eligibility and Flight info is mentioned here:
https://www.lufthansa.com/in/en/flight-information
Book on lufthansa.com
Qatar Airways Eligibility
1. Canadian citizens
2. Permanent Residents (PR) who have a valid PR card
3. COPRs approved on or before March 18, 2020 (whether accompanying a citizen or not)
4. Spouses of Canadian citizens and PRs (whether accompanying the citizen or PR or not)
Eligibility usually mentioned on High Commission page:
https://www.facebook.com/CanadainIndia/
United Airlines Eligibility
1. Canadian passport holders/Citizens
2. Canadian PR holding USA visa
Air India Vande Bharat Mission (AI VBM)
Canadian citizens, PRs, COPRs, WPs (open, closed and PGWP), Students, Supervisa have all flown on earlier phases of VBM.
Citizens, PRs, and COPRs have no restrictions and definitely do NOT require exemption letters to travel.
WPs, Students, Supervisa may be asked additional questions or documents to prove that travel is essential.
Based on comments in this group, there may be restrictions for first-time WP travellers.
Eligibility is mentioned on Air India website. Canada is listed on page 5.
http://www.airindia.in/images/pdf/Covid19-Countrywise-TravelAdvisories.pdf
The above link has been updated many times. So it is better to click on the main page and then click on travel advisories link:
http://www.airindia.in/r1landingpage.htm
***Be careful if your status changed during lockdown. There are two members of this group that were WP holders (Anita Nikolaiev and Venkatesh Raji) that had applied for PR. Canadian govt changed their WP status to PR during lockdown. So they were unable to travel on the work permit since it was no longer valid. They applied for PRTD to travel. Ankita Verma Srivastava reported in this group that it took 10 days to get PRTD.
Someone recommended the Facebook group(s) - Canadians stranded in India. I took the below snippet from one of the pinned posts. Hope it helps.
NOTE: Removed some flight schedule information as it may not be relevant
Source: I am happy to share via a link if it isn't against the rules of this forum.
----------------------------------------------------------
4. Which airlines can I use to get to Canada?
There are currently no repatriation flights organized by the Canadian High Commission. In earlier ROCA phases, Air India, Air Canada and Qatar Airways were used as repatriation flights for Canadian citizens and accompanying PRs who were immediate family members. These flights departed from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Amritsar and Ahmedabad.
It is currently possible to fly to Canada via KLM, Air France, Lufthansa, and Air India but each airline has different eligibility requirements (addressed in next question).
KLM - route is via Amsterdam. You can book the entire route to Canada.
Air France - route is via Paris. You can book the entire route to Canada.
Lufthansa - route is Mumbai to Frankfurt or Delhi to Munich. You have to book with a separate airline for onward journey to Canada. In some cases you may be able to book entire journey depending on connections and availability of flights.
Qatar Airways - route is Delhi to Doha to Toronto. You can book the entire route to Canada.
United Airlines - route is to USA. You can book a separate ticket from USA to Canada.
Air India - you can fly on direct flights, or transit via London, Zurich, Frankfurt. You have to book your onward flight from Europe to Canada on a separate airline. For example, there are daily flights from London to Toronto on Air Canada.
5. Who is allowed to travel on these special international flights?
There are different eligibility requirements for each airline. PLEASE ensure that you meet these requirements prior to booking or you will be denied boarding.
KLM/Air France Eligibility
1. Canadian citizens
2. PR with spouse who is Canadian citizen. Spouse doesn't need to be travelling with you.
3. PR with child under 18 years who is Canadian citizen. Child doesn't need to be travelling with you.
Eligibility is mentioned here:
https://www.klm.com/travel/in_en/campaigns/travelrestrictions.htm
Lufthansa Eligibility
Canadian citizens and Permanent Residents who are spouses or children (<18 years) of Canadian citizens.
Independent PR holders and PR parents of Canadian citizen children are NOT eligible to book these tickets.
Eligibility and Flight info is mentioned here:
https://www.lufthansa.com/in/en/flight-information
Book on lufthansa.com
Qatar Airways Eligibility
1. Canadian citizens
2. Permanent Residents (PR) who have a valid PR card
3. COPRs approved on or before March 18, 2020 (whether accompanying a citizen or not)
4. Spouses of Canadian citizens and PRs (whether accompanying the citizen or PR or not)
Eligibility usually mentioned on High Commission page:
https://www.facebook.com/CanadainIndia/
United Airlines Eligibility
1. Canadian passport holders/Citizens
2. Canadian PR holding USA visa
Air India Vande Bharat Mission (AI VBM)
Canadian citizens, PRs, COPRs, WPs (open, closed and PGWP), Students, Supervisa have all flown on earlier phases of VBM.
Citizens, PRs, and COPRs have no restrictions and definitely do NOT require exemption letters to travel.
WPs, Students, Supervisa may be asked additional questions or documents to prove that travel is essential.
Based on comments in this group, there may be restrictions for first-time WP travellers.
Eligibility is mentioned on Air India website. Canada is listed on page 5.
http://www.airindia.in/images/pdf/Covid19-Countrywise-TravelAdvisories.pdf
The above link has been updated many times. So it is better to click on the main page and then click on travel advisories link:
http://www.airindia.in/r1landingpage.htm
***Be careful if your status changed during lockdown. There are two members of this group that were WP holders (Anita Nikolaiev and Venkatesh Raji) that had applied for PR. Canadian govt changed their WP status to PR during lockdown. So they were unable to travel on the work permit since it was no longer valid. They applied for PRTD to travel. Ankita Verma Srivastava reported in this group that it took 10 days to get PRTD.
JUST AN UPDATE: Experience from a person who has traveled via Frankfurt
Landed a few hours ago and sharing our experience.
Flight details:-
Air India - 19th June - Mumbai to Frankfurt
Air Canada - 20th June - Frankfurt to Toronto
At Mumbai -
1. reach at-least 5 hours prior departure, there’s a very long queue where only gate in takes 2/3 hours depending on the number of International flights scheduled on that day (For 10 am flight, we managed to check in at the AI counter at 8:45 despite reaching airport by 5:30 )... You will be handed Healthy and Safety form , fill the details and get it stamped by on-duty Airport health officer.. .
2. Proceed to check in at the AI counter and preferably carry the IRCC travel exemption note print out or keep it ready on mobile - most AI and Immigration staff miss clarity around this or confuse it. Complete check in with baggage drop (we carried 2 * 23 kgs / per person + a cabin bag - no additional cost charged at Mumbai)
3. Now after security clearance, comes the most daunting one at Mumbai Immigration office- like stated earlier most officers miss clarification and re-confirm with seniors , so be prepared to clarify their questions and stay calm to wait it out (if lucky , you will simply walk through)
4. During boarding, you are provided with face shield, wet wipes and face mask In the aircraft , meal box is kept packed on your seats ( Namkeen , packed fruit juice, hard cold paratha , fruits and 2 small water bottle - you can carry your meal - just pack it right). Boarding completed and our flight from Mumbai took almost 1.5 hours late than scheduled bcoz of the long queue. Remember, there’s no flight entertainment so download some series or movies from Netflix or Amazon prime.
At Frankfurt:
We landed at 3:50 (scheduled time 3 pm)... cleared security (absolutely no liquid expect sanitisers allowed in hand / cabin baggage) and came to transit gate. Air India provided fairly hot Indian veg meal for all transit passengers along with a 10 Euro meal voucher which can be used for the next day meals during transit time. Voucher amount needs to be fully redeemed - remember no encashment option
There are lots of sleeping pod/ stretcher beds available to get some sleep (without paying anything extra)
For coffee/meals/ breakfast the only option at Frankfurt is Mc Donald’s.
Boarding for Toronto commenced on time . COPR document and Visa verified by Air Canada prior boarding. Excellent quality COVID safety kit provided by Air Canada . Flight occupied at 40 % capacity and ample of space to relax or sleep.
At Toronto:
Update details in “ArriveCAN’ app . While walking towards immigration desk , officers will help you with the token code to complete the ArriveCAN process ( Basic arrival flight details + COVID related questions) . Next, Visa immigration officer will ask you about your Quarantine plan (we showed our plan document print and then he asked for AirBnb confirmation receipt - he emphasized to confirm if it’s private place and not sharing and how will he groceries/ medical supplies be managed) . After this, we were directed to the IRCC bureau where we showed our COPR documents , they asked us about our plans like the purpose , again asked about quarantine plan etc ..The officer then asked where will be stay for next 6 months ( we said we booked AirbNb for a month and then will either move to a friends place or look for some places) - she said we don’t take friends or relatives address now, once you have an address where you will stay for 6 months at-least let us know through email or walk to service Ontario office for PR card issue - timeline upto 2 months. Took sign on the COPR documents and asked to wait. In less than 5 mins called us again, told us about how to preserve the COPR doc for future immigration purpose like citizenship or sponsorship, etc .. asked if any question and then came the golden words “ Welcome to Canada “
We then walked through customs submitting the declaration, no questions asked and finally we were outside the Airport ( landing to exit in about 45 mins)
Once stepped out, we had our moment of joy and still feels like we are dreaming .. for all your folks preparing hard to come here , wish you all the very best .. if there’s anything i can help with please let know.
Landed a few hours ago and sharing our experience.
Flight details:-
Air India - 19th June - Mumbai to Frankfurt
Air Canada - 20th June - Frankfurt to Toronto
At Mumbai -
1. reach at-least 5 hours prior departure, there’s a very long queue where only gate in takes 2/3 hours depending on the number of International flights scheduled on that day (For 10 am flight, we managed to check in at the AI counter at 8:45 despite reaching airport by 5:30 )... You will be handed Healthy and Safety form , fill the details and get it stamped by on-duty Airport health officer.. .
2. Proceed to check in at the AI counter and preferably carry the IRCC travel exemption note print out or keep it ready on mobile - most AI and Immigration staff miss clarity around this or confuse it. Complete check in with baggage drop (we carried 2 * 23 kgs / per person + a cabin bag - no additional cost charged at Mumbai)
3. Now after security clearance, comes the most daunting one at Mumbai Immigration office- like stated earlier most officers miss clarification and re-confirm with seniors , so be prepared to clarify their questions and stay calm to wait it out (if lucky , you will simply walk through)
4. During boarding, you are provided with face shield, wet wipes and face mask In the aircraft , meal box is kept packed on your seats ( Namkeen , packed fruit juice, hard cold paratha , fruits and 2 small water bottle - you can carry your meal - just pack it right). Boarding completed and our flight from Mumbai took almost 1.5 hours late than scheduled bcoz of the long queue. Remember, there’s no flight entertainment so download some series or movies from Netflix or Amazon prime.
At Frankfurt:
We landed at 3:50 (scheduled time 3 pm)... cleared security (absolutely no liquid expect sanitisers allowed in hand / cabin baggage) and came to transit gate. Air India provided fairly hot Indian veg meal for all transit passengers along with a 10 Euro meal voucher which can be used for the next day meals during transit time. Voucher amount needs to be fully redeemed - remember no encashment option
There are lots of sleeping pod/ stretcher beds available to get some sleep (without paying anything extra)
For coffee/meals/ breakfast the only option at Frankfurt is Mc Donald’s.
Boarding for Toronto commenced on time . COPR document and Visa verified by Air Canada prior boarding. Excellent quality COVID safety kit provided by Air Canada . Flight occupied at 40 % capacity and ample of space to relax or sleep.
At Toronto:
Update details in “ArriveCAN’ app . While walking towards immigration desk , officers will help you with the token code to complete the ArriveCAN process ( Basic arrival flight details + COVID related questions) . Next, Visa immigration officer will ask you about your Quarantine plan (we showed our plan document print and then he asked for AirBnb confirmation receipt - he emphasized to confirm if it’s private place and not sharing and how will he groceries/ medical supplies be managed) . After this, we were directed to the IRCC bureau where we showed our COPR documents , they asked us about our plans like the purpose , again asked about quarantine plan etc ..The officer then asked where will be stay for next 6 months ( we said we booked AirbNb for a month and then will either move to a friends place or look for some places) - she said we don’t take friends or relatives address now, once you have an address where you will stay for 6 months at-least let us know through email or walk to service Ontario office for PR card issue - timeline upto 2 months. Took sign on the COPR documents and asked to wait. In less than 5 mins called us again, told us about how to preserve the COPR doc for future immigration purpose like citizenship or sponsorship, etc .. asked if any question and then came the golden words “ Welcome to Canada “
We then walked through customs submitting the declaration, no questions asked and finally we were outside the Airport ( landing to exit in about 45 mins)
Once stepped out, we had our moment of joy and still feels like we are dreaming .. for all your folks preparing hard to come here , wish you all the very best .. if there’s anything i can help with please let know.
Yes I am 100% sure. Probably the only country in the world where you need transit Visa does not you have 1 PNR or 2.> Are you sure about needing a transit visa in US if you have a single ticket?
> In the case of 2 tickets : Exiting Frankfurt airport may not be possible unless you have a transit visa. You will probably have to go through immigration and customs.
I feel like this conversation would be much easier if we all got on a conference call at a predetermined time
They are allowing it now. Good to hear this. People now can transit through Europe as luggage is tagged from India.
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I received a similar confirmation from German Embassy. And I feel now there are only 2 things we need to have a confirmation for:
1. Connecting flight from European destination has to be in less than 24 hours - which is like 15/22 hours at Frankfurt (Air Canada / Lufthansa respectively).
2. Luggage checked through till Toronto.
For the 2nd point, have come across a lot of people who have confirmed:
1. Boarding Passes for both sectors were issued at Mumbai / Delhi airports by Air India ground staff where the connecting was Air Canada - Star Alliance member.
2. Luggage was also checked through till Toronto - with luggage tags provided from Delhi / Mumbai airports.
The feedback from people who have already taken this route and landed has been good about the ground staff of Air India - where they didn't have to press them for the above 2 points. So, apparently Europe route appears to be clear to proceed with.
Hope all of us sail (fly) through smoothly !!
I’m actually looking at any date 21st August onwards, since that is when I’ll be done with work too.
So other than Air India the only other international flight available for us COPR holders is Qatar Airways?
Qatar flights were only up to 31st July. These were Canada assisted special flights (last of Canada repatriation flights), and won’t fly in August (at least as Canada assisted flights). This is as per reply I received from High Commission of Canada - Delhi, last week.
However, I feel more private participation will be allowed August onwards under VBM operations, guessing from the way SpiceJet and other players are being allowed to fly, with some criteria relaxed. Won’t be wrong to expect some news next week on this.
Wow !!!! someone just posted that international flight won't start till November based on new order from DGCA which is clearly for domestic flights...
https://mobile.twitter.com/DGCAIndia
https://mobile.twitter.com/DGCAIndia
Hey all, I also see United offering flights from India to Canada via US. For valid COPR holders with US B1 (or for that matter any other US) visa, those flights seem like a better option to me - single ticket, so no worries about luggage collection/re-check-in. Or am I missing something here?
That information is misplaced....Fare Capping and Restricted flights for domestic circuit extended upto Nov 24
Someone earlier pointed out that US Embassy confirmed even with a valid B1 one cannot transit via US.
Okay, thanks for sharing that!
This seems rather odd to me, but we're all living in some odd times here, I guess