India Launches Air Suvidha 2.0 for International Arrivals: What to Do Before Your Flight

India has reintroduced the digital health declaration for international passengers in a new format, Air Suvidha 2.0. For tourists, this means that before flying to the country, you must fill out an online form in advance, save the confirmation, and be ready to show it upon arrival. The new rule is not a visa ban and does not close India to travel, but it adds an important step to pre-flight preparation.

The official launch of Air Suvidha 2.0 took place on June 25, 2026. According to the Indian government's Press Information Bureau, the portal was launched by the Ministry of Civil Aviation of India and the Delhi airport operator DIAL in cooperation with health services. The reason is the strengthening of sanitary control at entry points due to the Ebola/Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, which the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern in May.

For travelers, the main thing is not to panic, but to correctly add the new requirement to the pre-trip checklist. If previously many passengers focused on the visa, passport, flight ticket, insurance, and accommodation booking, now the online health declaration should also be added to this list. Those flying to India with layovers, those with short time between flights, or those arriving at large hubs like Delhi Airport (DEL), Mumbai Airport (BOM), Bengaluru (BLR), Chennai (MAA) or Hyderabad (HYD) should be especially attentive.

What Exactly Has Changed

Air Suvidha 2.0 is not a tourist visa and not an entry permit. It is a digital health self-declaration form for passengers arriving in India on international flights. According to the official announcement, it is intended to help Indian health, immigration, and epidemiological surveillance services identify travelers who may require additional screening or medical consultation more quickly.

The form covers trip information, contacts, itinerary, 21-day travel history, possible contact with high-risk zones, and symptoms, if any. The Indian side emphasizes that the updated portal should be contactless and paperless: the passenger fills in the data online, receives confirmation, and shows it if necessary at the International Travel Health Desk or during the immigration procedure.

A key practical detail is that the declaration can be submitted up to 24 hours before arrival in India. Airlines have already begun warning passengers that the form must be filled out before boarding the flight. Cathay Pacific, in its update from June 26, explicitly stated that the requirement applies to both Indian and foreign citizens arriving in India. This is an important signal for tourists: even if the final check is conducted in India, leaving the form until after landing is risky.

Who Needs to Fill Out Air Suvidha 2.0

The wording of the Indian authorities and airlines indicates a broad application of the rule: it applies to international passengers arriving in India. That is, it is not only about citizens of countries where an outbreak has been recorded, and not only about tourists from a specific region. In a practical sense, every passenger on an international flight to India should assume that the declaration is required unless the airline or official portal confirms otherwise for a specific route.

This is especially important for travelers flying to India via the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe, or other transit hubs. The form may require flight data, the first airport of arrival, transit countries, and previous trips over the last 21 days. If the itinerary is complex, it is better to prepare all segments in advance rather than searching for information in the registration queue.

For family trips, it is worth checking whether a separate form is required for each passenger, including children. In similar health or immigration declaration systems, personal data for each person is usually important, not just the data of the main booking. Therefore, it is safer to plan time to fill out declarations for all travel participants, save confirmations on phones, and have a backup copy in email or printed form.

What to Prepare Before Filling Out

Before opening the Air Suvidha 2.0 portal, the traveler should gather basic data. A passport, flight number, arrival date, first airport of entry into India, contact phone number, email, address of stay or contact address, and information about recent trips are required. If the passenger has been in countries or regions associated with current epidemiological risk within 21 days, this data must be specified accurately.

NDTV Travel, in its explanation, describes the logic of the form as several sequential steps: personal and flight data, contact information, OTP verification, medical section, review of the declaration, and submission. After this, the passenger receives a registration number and confirmation. From an editorial perspective, the important part is not the technical sequence itself, which may change, but the principle: the data must match the passport and ticket, and the confirmation must be saved until the formalities are completed after arrival.

If you are flying via Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai or another large Indian airport, it makes sense to check the online board before leaving for the departure airport. New medical procedures do not necessarily mean flight delays, but they may affect how much time a passenger spends on checks after arrival, especially during peak hours.

Why India Introduced the New System Now

The return of Air Suvidha in the 2.0 format is not related to COVID-19, but to the current Ebola/Bundibugyo outbreak. According to the WHO, the outbreak in the DR Congo and Uganda represents an international epidemiological risk, and the European center ECDC at the end of June also reported a further increase in the number of confirmed cases in the region. India, as a large country with strong international air connections and high passenger traffic, is trying to strengthen the early detection of high-risk passengers at entry points.

For the tourism market, this is a telling example of how medical requirements are again becoming part of international mobility. It is not about a complete closure of borders, but about targeted digital control: collecting data before arrival, transferring it more quickly to medical and immigration services, reducing the number of paper forms, and focusing attention on those who have a relevant travel history or symptoms.

Such a model can be more convenient than paper questionnaires on the plane, but only if passengers know about the requirement before boarding. That is why the biggest risk for a tourist now is not the complexity of the form itself, but the information gap: a person may have a valid visa, a paid hotel, and a correct passport, but lose time during registration or after arrival due to an unfilled declaration.

What This Means for Tourists

First, travel to India should be planned with a small time buffer. If you are flying for a vacation in Goa via Dabolim Airport (GOI), for a business meeting in Bengaluru, or for a layover in Delhi, do not leave the medical declaration until the last minute. The best scenario is to fill it out after online check-in, when the exact flight data is already clear, but there is still time before heading to the airport.

Second, you should be more attentive to connections. If your first point of entry is Delhi, and then an internal flight to Kochi, Goa, Chennai, or Kolkata, allow a buffer for immigration, baggage, medical control, and repeat security checks. For routes with night arrivals or early morning layovers, it is useful to have a backup plan: verified hotels near Delhi Airport, hotels near Mumbai Airport or other overnight options near the first point of arrival.

Third, travelers with symptoms or a recent history of stay in high-risk regions should not attempt to hide information. Airlines and medical services emphasize the accuracy of the declaration. Cathay Pacific also warns that passengers with suspected or confirmed Ebola must notify the Airport Health Officer or Health Desk before immigration control, and people whose symptoms appeared within 21 days after arrival must seek medical help and report their travel history.

Pre-flight Checklist for India

Check the validity of your passport, visa, or e-Visa and the conditions specifically for your citizenship.
Fill out Air Suvidha 2.0 via the official portal before boarding the flight, preferably within 24 hours before arrival.
Prepare your flight number, first airport of arrival, address of stay, contacts, and 21-day travel history.
Save the confirmation of the declaration on your phone, in your email, and if possible, in offline access.
Check your flight on the airline's website and the online board of the arrival airport.
Allow additional time for immigration, baggage, medical control, and subsequent transfer.
Do not use third-party paid sites if the official portal is available directly through the government domain.

Conclusion

Air Suvidha 2.0 is an important but manageable change for trips to India. It does not cancel tourism, does not replace the visa, and does not mean automatic restrictions for all passengers. Its practical significance is different: international travelers now need to add one more digital form to their pre-flight plan, ensure the accuracy of the data, and provide the confirmation upon arrival.

For tourists flying to India in the coming weeks, the smartest strategy is to check the official Air Suvidha 2.0 portal, your airline's instructions, and current entry rules immediately before the flight. In practice, this can save more time than any priority service: a correctly filled declaration, a realistic buffer for layovers, and ready documents often determine whether a trip begins calmly or with an unnecessary queue at the very first stage of arrival.