Confusion prevails over India flights to UAE, thousands of passengers stuck in Kerala

Confusion prevails over India flights to UAE, thousands of passengers stuck in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: The good news that the UAE is now open to receiving passengers from India was a major relief for thousands of Keralites awaiting return to the Gulf, but confusion and uncertainty have continued to plague outbound passengers. On Thursday, it was still unclear when passengers would actually be able to board flights to the UAE, even as inbound flights into Kerala have been operating in limited numbers. At the heart of the matter is the stipulation that RT-PCR (reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction) tests have to be done for passengers travelling to the UAE, within four hours of departure. The stipulation is extremely difficult for most passengers given that they have to travel many hours to reach the airports. Kerala has four international airports at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode and Kannur which are used by passengers, many of who reside more than 100 kms away. The state government is keen to have RT-PCR test centres at the four airports, but groundwork towards this is still work in progress. "If the government wants individual airports to establish rapid RT-PCR tests, we are ready,“ Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) spokesman P.S. Jayan told Gulf News. CIAL has already called for expression of