COVID-19: Carrying passengers on India-UAE flights further suspended till May 14
UAE airline's trade partners in India receive travel update, defer bookings
Dubai: The carriage of passengers from India to the UAE has been further suspended until May 14, 2021, trade partners” of a UAE-based airline in India were informed on Thursday.
“Passengers who have transited through India in the last 14 days are not permitted to board from any other point to the UAE,” the April 29-dated advisory seen by Gulf News added.
Emirates airlines confirmed to passengers the extension of UAE travel suspension for passengers from India till May 14.
Responding to queries on the Twitter page of Emirates Support, the airline said the travel update sent to the trade partners is official.
“Hi, Yes. The suspension of flights from India is extended till the 14th of May 2021. DM us for more information,” one of the tweets that confirmed the announcement said.
Sources told Gulf News that both Emirates and flydubai will be updating the announcement on their websites soon.
When Gulf News tried to book tickets of the airline from India, flights were not scheduled till May 15. Earlier this week, bookings were open from May 5.
Speaking to Gulf News in Kolkata on Thursday, Anil Punjabi, chairman, Eastern Region, Travel Agents Federation of India, said: “Most passengers are stuck losing business and commitments and apprehension is that it may further get suspended. In that case, there will be a massive financial loss.”
Due to the explosive surge in COVID-19 cases in India, the UAE announced the suspension of inbound passenger flights from India for 10 days starting from 11:59pm on April 24.
The entry restriction was exempted for transit flights and certain categories of passengers including UAE nationals, diplomatic passport holders and golden residency visa holders. The temporary entry restriction for Indians including, transiting passengers who had been to India within the past 14 days, was subject to review.