Air India Express Allegedly Carried Covid Positive Certified Passengers to Dubai (Representative)
New Delhi:
The Dubai Civil Aviation Authority has suspended Air India Express flights until October 2 for carrying passengers with COVID-positive certificates twice in recent weeks, senior government officials said today.
According to the UAE government rules, each passenger traveling from India must bring an original negative covid certificate from RT-PCR test conducted 96 hours before travel.
“A passenger, who had a positive covid certificate dated September 2, flew on the Air India Express flight Jaipur-Dubai on September 4. A similar incident had occurred with a passenger on one of the other flights of the airline in Dubai previously, “said one. of officials.
Therefore, the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) suspended Air India Express flights from September 18 to October 2, officials said.
Both incidents of passengers flying Covid-positive certificates to Dubai from India on Air India Express flights occurred in recent weeks, officials noted.
In a statement later in the day, Air India Express confirmed that it had received a “suspension notice” from DCAA on September 17 to suspend its flights to Dubai from September 18 to October 2.
“The advisory was issued due to the erroneous acceptance of a Covid positive passenger by the airline’s ground handling agents in Delhi and Jaipur on Air India Express flights to Dubai on August 28 and September 4 , respectively, “said the airline.
He said that ground handling agencies have taken appropriate punitive measures against their employees who have been held responsible for the lapses in Delhi and Jaipur.
Air India Express ground handling service in India is provided by Air India Air Transport Services Limited (AIATSL), which is a subsidiary of the national airline Air India.
Air India Express is also a subsidiary of Air India.
“According to the information collected, the passengers who were sitting in close proximity to the covid positive passenger on each flight had undergone COVID testing / quarantined as determined by the Dubai health authority,” Air India Express said in your release.
The airline stated that it has again told its “handling agencies in India” to strictly adhere to regulations when it comes to “accepting” passengers on flights.
As an “abundant precaution”, the carrier said it has recommended to its handling agents that they implement a “three-level verification mechanism” to avoid any such lapse in the future.
The airline said it has introduced additional flights to Sharjah to accommodate passengers affected by the suspension of its flights to Dubai.
“Affected passengers who have booked to fly to Dubai also have the option to rebook for a future date,” the airline said.
Scheduled international flights have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the lockdown caused by the coronavirus.
However, special international passenger flights have been operating in India under the Vande Bharat Mission since May and under bilateral air bubble agreements formed between India and other countries since July.
The United Arab Emirates is one of the 10 countries with which India has established a bilateral air bubble pact. In such a pact, the airlines of both countries can operate international passenger flights with certain restrictions.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated channel.)
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