Expats anxious as India withholds approvals for chartered flights

Expats anxious as India withholds approvals for chartered flights

Passengers disappointed as two repatriation flights from the UAE could not take off on Saturday





UAE-based Indian welfare groups are anxious about the fate of future repatriation flights from the UAE after two chartered flights to India could not take off on Saturday in the absence of approvals from authorities in India.

The Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC), a welfare organisation, said the Etihad Airways EY254 flight that it had chartered from Abu Dhabi to Kozhikode on Saturday had to be cancelled 'at the last moment' because the Directorate of General Civil Aviation (DGCA) did not send the permissions necessary for it to land in India.

The flight, carrying 183 passengers, was scheduled to take off at 2.20pm from the Abu Dhabi International Airport.

Even as official comments from Indian or UAE authorities were not immediately available, Indian media reports suggest that UAE carriers have been verbally informed of a decision barring them from operating any additional repatriation flights to India.

However, a lack of formal communication or reason for denying UAE carriers from operating repatriation flights is causing concern among expats, with more Indians from the UAE repatriated through flights operated by welafre groups and companies than those through government repatriation