India-UAE flights to remain suspended until July 6 amid COVID

New Delhi: India's flag air carrier Air India on Wednesday said that flights between India and UAE will remain suspended until July 6.

Responding to a passenger on Twitter, it said that "In view of travel restrictions announced by the UAE government, flights between India and UAE are suspended till July 6, 2021. Please keep a watch on our Twitter handle and website for further updates."

The statement came as Dubai's Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management announced the decision, earlier, to allow entry of Indian residents of UAE into the emirate, from Wednesday (23 June).

Inbound passengers from India who are vaccinated with two doses of UAE-approved vaccines were expected to have entry access to the emirate. The committee had also mandated the requirement of a negative test certificate from a PCR test taken 48 hours before departure and also were to undergo a rapid PCR test four hours prior to flight departure to Dubai.

Air carriers mentioned that they were not given the go sign to issue tickets, as India – UAE commercial flights ban until July 6 still stands. The UAE halted commercial flights from April 25 restricting all residents or visitors from India to enter the UAE amidst India raging with the Delta variant. However, the travel suspension exempted UAE nationals, UAE Golden Visas holders and diplomats.

The latest announcement puts thousands of stranded expatriates in India in a dilemma worrying about their employment status. Reports say that India lacking facilities for the rapid test could be one of the reasons for the delay in flight reopening.