International Flight News: Emirates Airlines has extended its ban on international flights from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in line with the flight suspension order of The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government due to COVID-19 situation. In an official statement, Emirates Airlines said that passengers who had connected through any of these four countries in the last 14 days would also not be allowed to travel from any point to the UAE.
This is the latest international flights ban from India in view of the highly transmissible ‘Delta’ variant virus. Earlier, Etihad Airways, the second flagship carrier of UAE, had banned its flight operations to India till July 31.
“Following the latest UAE Government directives, passenger travel from India to UAE and Etihad’s network has been suspended effectively until 31 July 2021,” Etihad Airways had replied to a customer query, as quoted by Gulf News.
The UAE has extended the suspension of international flights from 16 countries including India until further notice owing to the Covid-19 pandemic situation, as per the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). “The UAE government is closely monitoring the situation and will provide further updates and instructions as necessary,” the Khaleej Times quoted GCAA circular.
The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority had banned inbound flights from India to Dubai on April 24, during the peak of coronavirus second wave. The flight ban, however, exempts UAE citizens, diplomats and golden and silver residency visa holders.