Indians from the millions-strong expat community in the UAE,
stranded in their homeland during a catastrophic
COVID-19 surge, are
swamping private jet operators with requests to whisk them back to safety.
اضافة اعلان
Fearing a prolonged flight ban between India and the Gulf
state, they aim to use an exemption for private business planes that was in
effect last year during the first wave of the global crisis.
An estimated 3.5 million Indians live and work in the United
Arab Emirates.
The latest suspension in flights that came into force Sunday
has shut down some 300 commercial flights that operated weekly on one of the
world's busiest air corridors.
Apart from low-paid laborers 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.
T. Patel, a businessman living in Dubai, is working
frantically to bring back his brother's wife and three children, currently
stuck in Bangalore.
"I am exploring the private jet option. It is a lot of
money but if I have no other way of bringing them back, then I will go for
it," he said.
— Prices surging —
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.
Patel paid $10,500 to get his parents and niece to Dubai,
nearly 20 times the cost of regular tickets.
"I waited for two months and finally hired a private
jet for $42,000, the cost of which was shared by a few equally desperate
residents," he said.
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.
But as demand soars, operators have been scrambling to
clarify rules around private planes landing in the UAE.
"Chartered flights need to get approval from the
General Civil Aviation Authority and the foreign ministry to operate. But we do
not know who is exempted to travel," said Tapish Khivensra, CEO of
Enthral Aviation Private Jet Charter.
Civil aviation has said UAE nationals, diplomats, official
delegations and "businessmens' planes" are excluded from the ban,
provided passengers observe measures including a 10-day quarantine.
— 'At any cost' —
Long-term Dubai resident Purushothaman Nair said he was
prepared to "spend a fortune" to return to the UAE.
"My wife and I came to India for just 10 days. We have
to fly back to Dubai at any cost," he told AFP.
"There are many people who are willing to pay up. How
can people with business interests and big responsibilities in the UAE afford
to stay away for a longer period?" said Nair, who works in the government
sector.
"The fear of contracting the virus is a bigger
worry."
The less well-off are weighing the high cost against the
risk of losing their livelihoods.
"If I cannot make it in a few weeks, my job is on the
line. My employer is already putting pressure on me and asking me to travel to
the UAE via other countries," Jameel Mohammed told AFP.
Mohammed had not seen his young son for two years when he
was granted leave in March.
He was thrilled at the prospect of a reunion but is now
stranded in the southern state of Kerala.
"I can't afford that kind of money. But if the choice
is between losing my job and borrowing money, I will do the latter and fly
back."
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