UAE-bound expats fear losing jobs after India extends international travel ban

In yet another setback for thousands of UAE-bound Indians stranded since March, the Indian aviation regulator, the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), issued a circular on Friday, extending the suspension on scheduled commercial flight operations to and from India till July 31. For the countless UAE-bound NRIs stranded in India, the wait to return to their homes, jobs and loved ones seems endless.

New Delhi:Thousands of UAE-bound expats stranded in India are hopeless to meet their family members any time soon and unemployment looms large over their lives, as the centre has extended the suspension on international flights till July 31.

Samir Patel, a marketing professional, who was working in Dubai has now stuck in his Ahmedabad home since March, fear that if the suspension of international flights continues like this then he might lose his job.

Another stranded UAE-bound expat, Kamini Kannan said that a support group of more than thousand stranded people on Telegram has been made so that all stranded people could get regular updates on government orders for repatriation flights.

"As per my information, more than 10,000 people are stuck in India and we have been writing letters to the PMO, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the UAE embassy so that we could reach the UAE," she added.

Another person said that there are people who have paid more than 2 lakhs for the charter flights but it is not possible for everyone to pay this much amount for an air ticket which hardly costs around 10,000 from the airlines in normal days.

Notably, days after the UAE government imposed the curb on Air India and other private airlines preventing them from carrying passengers to Dubai, the Indian government also barred the UAE airlines from operating repatriation flights.

India had banned scheduled international flights on March 22 and as per the latest Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) order, the ban will continue till July 31.

However, sources have told ETV Bharat that government is trying to resolve the issue diplomatically and some positive results might come within a week.

Earlier, Air India had announced that passengers who wanted to travel to Dubai via Vande Bharat flight should take approval from the UAE Embassy. Due to this announcement, very few passengers were able to travel to Dubai on Air India Express flights.

Till July 2, Indian private airlines carried 32,435 passengers from the UAE to India while UAE carriers operated 356 flights to India which carried 67,559 passengers.

Meanwhile, Indian Consulate in Dubai announced that Air India Express will operate nine new flights as part of Vande Bharat Mission to the South Indian cities from Sharjah. The flights are scheduled to operate from July 9 to 14.