Air India Dubai flight: Dubai suspends AI Express flights for 15 days after it flew with positive Covid passengers | India Business News


NEW DELHI: Dubai aviation authorities on Thursday banned Air India Express from flying there for 15 days after the low-cost carrier transported a Covid-positive person from Jaipur to Dubai on September 4. The suspension of flights for AI Express will be from Friday (September 18) to 11:59 pm (local time) on October 2. Comments from the airline are expected.
The UAE has a condition that passengers must have a negative Covid test report to be accepted on any flight bound there. This is the second time AI Express has taken a passenger with a positive Covid report to Dubai, according to an email sent by the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) to the airline.
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Apart from the suspension of the operation, DCAA has asked AI Express to “pay all the expenses incurred by the respective authorities for medical services and / or quarantine of any passenger (s) and other passengers on that flight and also any other expenses related to it. “And to resume operations as of October 3, the airline has been asked to” submit a detailed corrective action / procedure implemented to prevent such incidents from reoccurring. ”
According to DCAA mail to the airline, the AI ​​Express Jaipur-Dubai flight (IX 1135) on September 4 flew a passenger who had a positive test report conducted two days before the trip.
“You are aware of our previous insinuation made by our letter dated September 2, 2020, for boarding a passenger with a positive Covid-19 test, which endangered the other passengers on board and also caused a serious health risk. Approaching a passenger with a positive Covid-19 test result for the second time is contrary to and violates the established procedures and / or protocols related to air travel to and from airports in the Emirate of Dubai, during the Coronavirus SARS Cov . 2 pandemic. Therefore, all Air India Express operations to Dubai airports are temporarily suspended, for a duration of 15 days, ”DCAA mail tells AI Express.
The United Arab Emirates requires that all passengers traveling to Dubai from any destination must have a negative Covid-19 PCR test certificate printed in order to be accepted on the flight. The test must be done a maximum of 96 hours before departure.
Only children under the age of 12 and passengers who have a moderate or severe disability are exempt from this test. Passengers going to the United Arab Emirates from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh must take this test in laboratories designated by him.
Hong Kong had recently banned Air India flights for a few days when some passengers tested positive there after flying from India.

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