India-UAE international flights to commence soon? Here’s what UAE envoy to India said

Hopefully there will be some operation specifically for those Indians who are in India with valid work visa and residency permit, Albanna was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.

The Indian government is in talks with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government to commence the international flights between the two countries which have been suspended since the month of March. The decision comes in the wake of several NRIs requesting the government and the UAE embassy to be allowed to travel to UAE to join back their jobs and businesses. According to an Indian Express report, the UAE envoy to India Ahmed Albanna on Wednesday said that his government was in touch with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Ministry of Civil Aviation to resume international flights to allow Indians with valid work visa permits to go back to UAE.

Hopefully there will be some operation specifically for those Indians who are in India with valid work visa and residency permit, Albanna was quoted as saying by the Indian Express. He also said that in addition to the permits, people will also have to undergo the Covid-19 test to be able to travel back to UAE.

Thousands of requests are being registered by people to travel back to the foreign countries in order to resume their jobs and businesses.

Everyday we are receiving thousands of requests by people who are saying that they are at the risk of losing their jobs if they are not allowed to travel back to UAE, an airline official was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.

A huge section of the Indian diaspora residing in Gulf countries had come back to India at the onset of the Coronavirus infection in the month of March. Even after the passage of several months the rise of infection continues which has made the NRIs anxious to join back their work lest they are fired from their jobs. Several requests have also been made to the authorities of both the countries in this regard.

However, with the statement issued by the top UAE diplomat the wait of NRIs seems to be coming to an end. Presently, the UAE authorities are allowing residency visa holders and other tourists to enter the country after the fulfillment of two conditions. The first condition is the mandatory Covid-19 PCR test to be done on all foreigners not more than 96 hours before their arrival in the country. In addition to the Coronavirus test, they are also being asked to take an online permit from the UAE Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship.

Earlier, the state carrier Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express were berated by the UAE authorities for allowing some NRIs to board the special Vande Bharat Mission flights and reach UAE as the flights were only allowed to bring back Indians stranded in foreign countries. Afterwards, Air India had asked the regular passengers willing to travel back to UAE to get advance permission from the UAE authorities before boarding the Vande Bharat flights. Another bone of contention highlighted by the UAE ambassador is India’s unwillingness to allow foreign airlines to ferry passengers to and from UAE.

Apart from UAE, the Indian government is believed to be involved in hectic negotiation with other countries including US, UK and some other European countries to resume air traffic and international flights.