Travel updates to China, Korea & India

Country

Entry Requirements

Flights

Notes

China

China banned visa holder entry on March 27^th however, since June 3^rd , there was more clarity on a special arrangement for “Fast Track” visa entry. Any non-Chinese, including current Chinese visa holders, will need to reapply for a new visa to enter China.
Fast track visa entry link.

There are currently no direct flights from the UK to China. BA suspended its daily flights to and from China back in Jan 31 ’20. It has converted passenger planes to cargo planes to transport PPE. There are no indications when direct flights will resume.

Flight resumptions can be predicted if the country shows low infection and / or well-controlled and monitored spread. This is the case for the resumption between China – Korea flights news link.

South Korea

No Visa required for short-stay from UK.

Only direct flights from the UK at the moment are with Korean Air flying once a day. Other carriers are going but require stop offs: AirFrance from Paris, KLM from Amsterdam and Etihad from Dubai.

All arrivals – regardless of nationality and length of stay – are required to undergo testing and subsequent quarantine for 14 days. Testing requirements for arrivals from the US and Europe have been harmonised and travellers from these regions will be tested on entry before transferring to the government’s quarantine facility.

Individuals are required to pay a daily charge of around 100,000KRW (approximately £66) while in government quarantine facilities. There is currently no charge for hospital/community centre treatment for those testing positive. It is worth noting that individuals testing positive on arrival may spend over a month in hospital/community treatment centres before successfully testing negative and being discharged.

India

India banned visa holders from March 13th 2020, there has been no relaxation since then. Foreign nationals holding a valid long term multiple entry visa of appropriate category issued by the Indian missions and posts abroad will have to get the visa re-validated from the relevant Indian Mission

No International commercial flights are operating to/from India currently.Domestic airlines have resumed , air traffic is less than 25% of the daily normal.

The Aviation Ministry has indicated that they are open to resumption of international travel (from mid-July onwards), further clarity is likely by the end of June. This also depends upon the demand and state of coronavirus spread in India. 

Indian nationals can return however they have to compulsorily undergo a 14 day period of quarantine. No International commercial flights are operating, Special flights (repatriation) have been operated by  UK and number of other European countries, Australia and US ( to bring back their nationals stuck in India.)