NRI BUSINESSMAN ‘FLIES SOLO’ TO UAE
They are not Ambanis and Adanis or any VIP, but they have flown to Dubai as solo passengers in separate flights.
A Dubai-based businessman and philanthropist Surinder Pal Singh Oberoi had the entire Air India plane to himself while flying from India to the UAE. Oberoi was in Gurdaspur (Punjab) some days ago to buy land to setup a pathological laboratory. When he reached the Amritsar airport around midnight to catch the early-morning flight (AI 929) to Dubai, he was told that he could not board the plane without assigning any valid reason. “What reason?” shocked
Oberoi asked as he had a valid confirmed ticket that he had purchased for 740 dirhams (Rs 14,800). “I tried to reason out with the airline staff but to no avail,” Oberoi told The Sunday Guardian from Dubai. The aircraft had flown in from the UAE and it was on its return journey. “First, I thought they were not permitting me to board due to Covid-19 restrictions. I told them that I had a valid Covid-19 negative test,” said Oberoi. As half-an-hour was left for the plane to take-off, Oberoi made some desperate phone calls to “important people in New Delhi”. Then only things started moving. Oberoi had flown to India from Dubai on 12 June. The UAE had suspended entry for passengers from India on 24 April following second wave with only certain categories allowed to fly into the country, including members of diplomatic missions, golden visa holders, UAE nationals granted permission by UAE authorities. Oberoi could finally fly as he is a UAE golden visa holder.
Man Mohan can be contacted at rovingeditor@gmail.com