India-UAE travel: Soaring airfares dampen stranded expats’ bid to return

India-UAE travel: Soaring airfares dampen stranded expats’ bid to return

All airlines operating between India and the Arabian Gulf sector have increased their fares up to five times, including a three-fold rise to Dubai. At least 19,000 Indian expatriates, who returned home after the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in March 2020, are unable to travel as they cannot afford the expensive air tickets. Several stranded Indian expatriates have been without an income for over 20 months and their savings are also almost depleted. var width=document.documentElement.clientWidth;if(width>=320&&width<728){}; googletag.cmd.push(function(){try{var d=document.documentElement.clientWidth;var a;var c="/21857811890/en.zcom/";var b;if(d>=320&&d<728){a=[300,250];b=["mobile_mr_story"]}else{a=[300,250];b=["MR_Story"]}var h="MR_Story";var g=googletag.defineSlot("/21857811890/en.zcom/",a,"div-gpt-ad-MR_Story").setTargeting("type",b).addService(googletag.pubads());gptAdSlots.push(g);if(h!="MR_Story"){googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(true,true)}googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest();googletag.enableServices();if((h=="PSB_Left")||(h=="mobile_psb_left")||(h=="PSB_Top")||(h=="mobile_psb_top")||(h=="PSB_Bottom")||(h=="mobile_psb_bottom")||(h=="PSB_Middle")||(h=="mobile_psb_middle")||(h=="leaderboard_home")||(h=="leaderboard_bottom_home")||(h=="mobile_leaderboard_home")||(h=="mobile_leaderboard_bottom_home")){setInterval(function(){googletag.pubads().refresh([g])},240000)}}catch(f){console.log("Error loading Ad banner "+h)}}); try{googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-MR_Story")})}catch(e){console.log("Error displaying Ad banner "+bannerName)}; UT Khader, who represents Mangaluru in the Karnataka legislative assembly, told Khaleej Times that he had appealed to the Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya Scindia, airline companies, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to direct the banks to help those who are in dire need of money for airfares. “Many of them will lose their jobs if they don’t report on time. These are mostly unskilled and semi-skilled workers who seek job opportunities in West Asian countries. The state governments of Kerala, Karnataka and Goa must try to subsidise airfares to the Arabian Gulf returnees to help them keep their jobs,” the lawmaker said. ALSO READ: Several stranded expatriates,