Do we need visas for India stopoff?

Q We are having problems understanding an issue with visas in India. We are due to fly to Chennai from Manchester with Jet Airways, then on to Colombo with SriLankan. We have read conflicting reports on whether we need an Indian visa or not. We have tried to contact SriLankan to see if they will allow our baggage to be checked through to Colombo. But they haven’t given us a definitive answer. What’s your advice?

TP

A This is a very unusual routing between Manchester and Colombo, not least because you must most definitely obtain a visa. You are obliged to get tangled in Indian red tape because Jet Airways does not fly from Manchester to Chennai. It flies from Manchester to Mumbai, where you will be expected to collect your baggage and pass through customs and immigration before the short domestic flight to Chennai.

You will not be allowed on the aircraft at Manchester airport unless you have an Indian visa. So I suggest you apply for an e-visa immediately. Use the official site indianvisaonline.gov.in rather than one of the many unofficial agencies which will inflate the cost.

I am intrigued about whose idea it was to organise a trip to Sri Lanka’s capital in this way. Assuming your aim is to reach Colombo from Manchester, there are many ways of doing so without putting yourself in need of a visa: Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways will all oblige at attractive fares, with a single change of plane in their hubs in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha respectively.

Alternatively you could travel overland to Heathrow and fly nonstop on one of SriLankan’s nonstop flight, though these can be expensive.

I advise everyone who wants to visit India, or transit there on non-connecting flights, to sort out visas before handing over a penny for flights and other travel arrangements. I hear too many sad stories of many hundreds or thousands of pounds being lost because a visa issue has thwarted travel plans.

Every day our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder