COVID-19: Indians pay Dh2,000 for charter flights, scramble for costly tickets to return to UAE before flight suspension begins

COVID-19: Indians pay Dh2,000 for charter flights, scramble for costly tickets to return to UAE before flight suspension begins

Dubai: Several Indians affected by the UAE entry restriction beginning from 11:59pm on Saturday had to dig deep into their pockets to purchase last-minute tickets at exorbitant rates. 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 with exemption given 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, is subject to review. The scramble for the few thousands of tickets that were available over the weekend from India saw stranded passengers rushing for COVID-19 tests and flooding travel agencies and airline offices with calls and visits to book tickets. Several people ended up buying tickets whose rates skyrocketed after the announcement about the flight suspension. Hundreds of people also opted to travel for one-way tickets more than Dh2, 000 on a few charter flights that were operated by Indian and UAE airlines. "Fares surged for all the airlines soon after the announcement. In some sectors, the ticket rates multiplied many times. Many people were unable