UAE has taken the lead to repatriate Indians stranded in the country through chartered flights, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several companies and community groups have chartered repatriation flights with the UAE airlines, with some of them operating the first international flights to some destinations in India, Gulf news reported.
The pace of the Indian repatriation mission, gathered more steam after the Indian government allowed private airlines in the UAE and India to operate charter flights on behalf of companies and community groups.
India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday night revealed that it granted permission to around 870 chartered flights, transporting around 2,00,000 passengers, both inbound and outbound.
“Several Airlines helped in the humanitarian mission of taking stranded people to their destinations,” DGCA said in a series of tweets.
The list of airlines and their operations tweeted by DGCA showed that dozens of flights were operated by four major UAE airlines that took part in the chartered operations.
A total of 68 flights have been operated by FlyDubai (38), Air Arabia (20), Emirates (five) and Etihad (five), according to the DGCA.
Some community groups in the UAE said they opted for UAE budget carriers for operating charter flights for repatriation as they could avail cheaper ticket fares with them.
Some Indian-owned travel agencies that have facilitated charter flights for community groups and companies, echoed the same. They added that operating UAE carriers for charter service ensured more certainty about flight schedules amid the pandemic.
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