Destination Dubai: Jets in demand to escape India Covid horror

However, there is an exemption for private jets, which can fly to the country from India. Indians from the millions-strong expat community in the UAE, stranded in their homeland during a catastrophic coronavirus surge, are thus now swamping private jet operators with requests to whisk them back to safety. Fearing a prolonged flight ban between India and the Gulf state, they aim to use the exemption for private business planes.

Apart from low-paid labourers on short-term contracts, the sudden move has stranded members of long-settled wealthy families who travelled to India for holidays, work or on medical emergencies. Many are now in a panic as cases in India skyrocket, with 18 million infections and more than 201,000 people dead, and the daily fatality toll rising above 3,000 for the first time on Wednesday.

After the UAE shut its airspace to curb the spread of coronavirus in March last year, some residents raised the funds for seats on shared chartered planes that were permitted to fly to Dubai. Some even paid nearly 20 times the cost of regular tickets, according to reports.

Dozens of charter flights zipped passengers from India to Dubai in the days before the new ban, after all commercial seats were snapped up, and charter companies say demand has since surged. A 13-seat jet flying from Mumbai to Dubai costs between $35,000 and $38,000, around 35 times the price of a regular ticket. Prices from other cities are even higher. Money, however, is not a problem for some such as long-term Dubai resident Purushothaman Nair who said he was prepared to "spend a fortune" to return to the UAE.