No passengers on Vande flights to Dubai, UAE tells Air India

No passengers on Vande flights to Dubai, UAE tells Air India

Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:25.06.2020

The United Arab Emirates has told Air India that transporting passengers, whether UAE nationals or not, to the emirates on repatriation Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) flights is not allowed.

The UAE said that if anyone wishes to fly on a VBM flight from India to Dubai, he or she will require “specific approval from the embassy of UAE in New Delhi and UAE ministry of foreign affairs and international cooperation”, an Air India spokesperson said on Wednesday after getting a response from the UAE on the issue.

A UAE carrier on Wednesday sought India’s nod to operate charters — where its planes will fly with only crew to India and pick up passengers from here — as Dubai has allowed foreign nationals holding residency visas issued in Dubai to return to the emirate from June 22. International tourists are conditionally allowed to go to Dubai from July 7.

‘Passengers holding valid residential permits of UAE and approvals from embassies, can fly’

Just like AI is allowed to fly passengers one way (UAE-India) on its repatriation VBM flights, this airline wants to fly passengers one-way (India-UAE),” said a person in the know.

Following UAE’s announcement, AI had sought permission from Dubai to fly people on the India-Dubai legs of its VBM flights given the massive demand for travel from people here who wish to return to their jobs, homes and families there. The AI spokesperson said the airline is currently operating repatriation flights between India and the UAE under the Vande Bharat Mission. “All foreign airline operators to UAE have to adhere to the conditions and restrictions mentioned during repatriation clearances. As per guidelines issued by the General Civil Aviation Authority of UAE (on June 23)… transportation of passengers (UAE nationals and non-UAE nationals) to UAE on repatriation flights is not allowed.”

“In view of the foregoing, all passengers, including Indian nationals holding valid residency permits of UAE and have procured approval of the UAE’s Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship would need to have approval from the embassy to travel from India,” AI said.