09/07/2021
Flights to Dubai from certain destinations in India may resume as soon as next as bookings have re-opened on some travel websites.
Flights from India to Dubai and Abu Dhabi are expected to re-open on July 15 and July 21 respectively, after UAE along with other countries banned travellers from India, with some exceptions, amid the devastating rise of the second wave of Covid-19 in the country in April, according to a report in Dubai-headquartered Gulf News.
The next biggest destination in UAE, Abu Dhabi is expected to open its doors for fully-vaccinated Indians, among other categories already allowed, from July 21, the report added.
On the first day of re-opening, Vistara will carry passengers from New Delhi to Dubai while Emirates and budget carrier flydubai are expected to re-open operations on July 16, the report said, adding Etihad Airways will restart operations on July 22. Any kind of resumption of flights by the airlines between the two countries is yet to be confirmed by ET Now Digital independently, however, the Vistara website was accepting bookings for flights between New Delhi and Dubai for travel on July 15 at the time of writing this report.
According to another Gulf News report, some of the largest international airports in India such as Mumbai and Hyderabad are already preparing to handle passengers between the two countries by setting up rapid PCR and lab tests.
Flights to Dubai from destinations in India were expected to resume on June 23 but the decision was delayed in the wake of Covid situation in India.
UAE banned Indian passengers back in April when India was battling a surging deadly second wave of the pandemic during the month. The ban was subsequently extended till July 6.
The report quoting an official of the Mumbai International Airport (MIA) stated that the premises were being kept sanitised at all times and PCR-testing facilities are being set up which will give the result in just 15 minutes. Meanwhile, Hyderabad airport has roped in Mapmygenome, an Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL)-certified Covid-19 testing lab