KOCHI: With the UAE authorities issuing a new travel protocol accepting passengers from India who comply with the prescribed regulations, the Kochi international airport has started flights to the country from this morning. UAE Airlines, Air Arabia and Emirates operated one service each on Thursday.
An Air Arabia flight (G9-426) departed for Sharjah at 3:50 am with 69 passengers on board while Emirates operated a flight (EK 531) to Dubai with 99 passengers, which departed at 10.30 am. S Suhas, managing director of Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL), attributed the smooth and swift commencement of international departures to the "operational efficiency of CIAL and other stakeholders like airlines, customs, immigration and ground handling agencies."
As per the relaxations allowed, expatriates with valid residency visas who have received both doses of Covid-19 vaccine in the UAE are among the new categories that will be allowed to travel to the West Asian country from August 5. They must have received the second vaccine dose at least 14 days prior to travel and hold a certificate that proves this, it said. The passengers should produce a negative PCR test certificate with 48 hours validity and also undergo a Rapid PCR test at the departure airport.
A release from CIAL said the airport has been doing intense follow-up with the UAE aviation communities and has been able to start the Rapid PCR-testing centre at the departure terminal within a week of the announcement of the Dubai Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management which made the tests mandatory for passengers from India. "Following that, the Dubai authority issued guidelines on August 3 accepting eligible passengers from India from August 5 and we facilitated a departure flight operation in the wee hours of the opening day itself, " Suhas said.
As per the schedules, Air Arabia will be operating two regular daily flights (G9 421/422 SHJ-COK-SHJ 1530/1640 and G9 427/428 SHJ-COK-SHJ 1840/1920) in the Sharjah sector from August 7 while Emirates operates a daily flight (EK 530/531 DXB 0844/1030) in the Dubai sector. CIAL has also initiated a discussion with both UAE and Indian carriers to schedule departure operations and it is expected that airlines like Fly Dubai, Etihad, Air India Express, Indigo and Spice Jet will begin UAE departure services soon.
