No clarity on rules, flyers from KIA choosing London transit left in lurch Many Denied Boarding, Lose Money

PANDEMIC DILEMMA

No clarity on rules, flyers from KIA choosing London transit left in lurch

Many Denied Boarding, Lose Money

Petlee.Peter@@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:20.12.2021

Several Indian passport holders, who had booked flights via London to reach Canada, have allegedly been denied boarding at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), Bengaluru, by various airlines citing vague Covid testing rules and visa hurdles.

Travel experts termed the situation “unfair” with no clarity on rules during the Omicron crisis, resulting in huge monetary losses and heartbreak for those not being able to travel despite fulfilling travel requirements.

There are limited options for Canada-bound passengers even as ticket prices are skyrocketing. Also, air bubble arrangements due to Covid-19 allow only point-to-point travel and transit at destinations like London which is creating problems for Indian passport holders without a UK visa, experts said.

Recently, Mahesh Rajanna from Yelahanka booked a ticket on British Airways to Toronto from Bengaluru with a brief transit in London. He reached KIA on the dawn of December 5 only to be denied boarding. The ground staff said he’d failed to pre-book a Covid RT-PCR test for his transit in Heathrow.

Mahesh booked another ticket with the same airline for travel on December 12 and this time too he was denied boarding, with the response that “Indian passport holders even with Canadian PR stamps are not allowed to transit via the UK”.

The 39-year-old is now trying his luck with other airlines to fly directly from Delhi to rejoin work in Canada.

Rajanna is one of the many who were turned away at KIA in recent weeks by airlines like British Airways and Qatar Airways over a rule, which travel experts say, doesn’t exist on paper. Indian passengers to Canada, mainly those holding Canadian PR, had been transiting via London without needing a visa for the UK.

According to Indiver Rastogi, president, Global Business Travel, Thomas Cook (India) & SOTC, Indians holding a valid Canadian visa don’t need a transit visa but must obtain a negative test report at the airport in London, in addition to a pre-departure negative Covid test result in India.

“It is highly recommended to pre-book the test at the airport in London, and a suitable transit time between connecting flights should be kept in mind, confirming details with the respective airline,” he said.

However, the reality on the ground has been the opposite, rued many flyers. “I spotted a reasonably less expensive ticket to head to Montreal via London from Bengaluru and was sent back by Bengaluru airport staff who said Indian passport holders despite having Canadian PR stamps can’t fly via London. Now I’m booked on a direct flight by Air India from Delhi to Toronto after paying nearly Rs 2 lakh for the trip,” lamented a 27-year-old techie.

‘3 trouble-free options to reach Canada’

Loveleen Arun, a Bengaluru-based travel expert and holiday package designer, said the information system for airline travel has broken down and no one is giving a clear answer on the status of Indians’ eligibility to transit via London. With British Airways unavailable for comments, their airline sources in Bengaluru said: “Indian passport holders are not allowed into the UK without a valid visa even for transit.”

Loveleen said lack of clarity on the travel situation has affected hundreds of people with their ticket money stuck with booking portals and airlines.

“At present, there are only three troublefree options for Indians to reach Canada, which are Air India and Air Canada via Delhi and Etihad Airways via Abu Dhabi. People must avoid the London route to save themselves the trouble,” she said.

Officials tracing Omicron infection source in JNV

The health department in Dakshina Kannada is leaving no stone unturned to find the source of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, that was reported among four children of a Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) in the district.

The epidemiologic data of children who tested positive for Covid-19, showed no clue of them or their parents having a history of travel to foreign countries, or neighbouring state of Kerala. The department is looking from all angles, to find the actual source of the variant that infected children, who are all below 14. Of the 79 primary contacts and 203 secondary contacts identified from the JNV in the district, only 13 people tested positive. Of the 12 samples sent for genome sequencing, four tested positive for the Omicron variant.