THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The plan of airline companies to take to the skies full scale by the middle of October as part of resuming international travel has come unstuck with Saudi Arabia suspending travel to and from India, Brazil and Argentina. Moreover, Saudi Arabia’s decision will affect the Keralites severely as it would have a direct bearing on other Gulf countries as well.
At present, Kuwait has suspended operation of flights to Kuwait from India in the wake of a rise in Covid cases there. Hardly a week ago, the Dubai civil aviation authorities had suspended the operation of Kerala-based Air India Express flights after two passengers tested positive for the virus upon their arrival there. The passengers were from Jaipur and New Delhi. The Dubai authorities lifted the ban following an explanation submitted by the airline. A senior airline official said, “Saudi Arabia’s decision to suspend the flights from India at a time when the country is planning to resume full-scale international services by October is likely to influence other countries.”
After the regular international flight services were suspended following the Covid-19 spread, the airline companies have been operating services by establishing exclusive air bubbles with countries like Afghanistan, Bahrain, Canada, France, Germany, Qatar, the Maldives, UAE, the UK and the USA. These were temporary arrangements before starting regular international flights.
According to Norka officials, the repatriation flights from Saudi Arabia have ferried 60,150 passengers to Kerala after the Vande Bharat Mission started, whereas 14 lakh Keralites are estimated to be in the Gulf country, the second highest after the UAE which hosts 15 lakh Malayalis. After Kuwait suspended flights from India, the expats in Kuwait who were planning to come home for various purposes postponed their journeys for the fear of losing their jobs in the absence of return flights.
Meanwhile, there are unconfirmed reports that Saudi Arabia may reconsider the suspension of repatriation flights to India, although the suspension of flights from India would remain. The low-cost arm of the national carrier has alone operated 1,754 flight services, carrying 2,08,209 passengers from May 7 to August 31. The Norka statistics showed 3.80 lakh Keralites have reached home after the repatriation flights started operating.