UAE, India agree to 15-day special flights
AIR INDIA, UAE AIRLINES TO BRING BACK INDIAN EXPATS
Several thousand Indian expats stranded back home due to Covid-19 travel restrictions will be able to return between July 12 and July 26 as the UAE and India have agreed to operate special flights for 15 days.
The agreement between the civil aviation authorities of both countries means that repatriation flights operated by Air India under the Vande Bharat Mission can carry Indian residents back to UAE.
Charter flights operated by UAE carriers to repatriate Indians from the UAE can also bring back residents on the return trip as India has lifted the ban.
Permits, negative test must
This is a huge relief for UAE residents from India, many of whom risk losing their jobs after being unable to return for nearly four months despite having obtained approval from the UAE’s Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) to return.
Only Indians with ICA permits and a Covid-19 negative test certificate can use these flights. “This arrangement will be initially in place for a period of 15 days i.e., from July 12 to 26 after which it will be reviewed as required,” India’s civil aviation ministry stated.
Around 100 flights operated by Air India and Air India Express are expected to fly in UAE residents from India.
104 more repatriation flights for stranded Indians
Also yesterday, India announced 104 more flights to repatriate stranded citizens in the UAE under phase four of the Vande Bharat Mission.
More than 18,400 Indian expats stranded due to Covid-19 will be flown home from July 15 to July 31, with each of the flights carrying 177 passengers, excluding infants.
Charter flights to resume
Meanwhile, travel agencies in the UAE and India told Gulf News that they have opened ticket bookings for charter flights from India to the UAE.
Afi Ahmad, owner of Smart Travels, said the agencies received confirmation for bookings on UAE carriers and started issuing PNR numbers to the passengers yesterday.
Covid-19 tests in Indian labs
UAE Ambassador to India Dr Ahmad Abdul Rahman Al
Banna yesterday clarified that the UAE will accept Covid-19 negative certificates issued by more than 600 labs in India authorised to perform RT/ PCR tests by the Indian government. The results should be obtained not more than 96 hours before travel.
1,288 recoveries in UAE
The UAE yesterday announced 532 new cases, 1,288 recoveries and one death after carrying out more than 49,000 tests. This took total infections to 53,577, recoveries to 43,570 and the toll to 328.
India has announced 104 extra flights to repatriate stranded citizens in the UAE under phase four of the Vande Bharat Mission. More than 18,400 Indian expats stranded by Covid-19 can be flown home from July 15 to 31 on these flights with each of them carrying 177 passengers excluding infants.
The flight schedule listed on the website of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) showed that Air India and Air India Express flights have been scheduled from Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah to various cities in 10 Indian states such as Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Punjab, Delhi, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Haryana.
Some of the flights have been allocated to less-served cities such as Mumbai, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow etc while majority of the flights are allocated to cities in Kerala.
Booking for the new flights will open soon, said Neeraj Agrawal, consul, Press, Information and Culture, at the Indian Consulate in Dubai. “From July 9 onwards, we have about 100 flights from Dubai around 50 from Sharjah. Some of the flights are still subject to slot approval,” he told Gulf News.
More flights
With the addition of the new flights, phase four of the Vande Bharat Mission is poised to send more than 300 special repatriation flights, with the highest number of stranded Indians.
More than 130,000 Indians have been repatriated from flights approved by the Indian Consulate in Dubai alone, said Sanjeev Kumar, head of Chancery at the mission. “They were flown home on about 170 flights under the Vande Bharat Mission and about 560 chartered flights.”