Dubai: Hundreds of Indian expats in the UAE took charter flights, while many others also flew in from Oman in a hurry and cut prices ahead of Eid Al Adha and the summer holidays.
Booking seats on direct flights from the UAE chartered through agents and on scheduled flights from Muscat has proven to be cost-effective and also less difficult in terms of seat availability for many returning Indians, especially those arriving in the southern Indian state of Kerala.
Sharjah resident Bijumon Janardhanan’s circle of relatives took one of those chartered flights through Al Hind Travels on July 3. “It’s a flight from Sharjah to Thiruvananthapuram,” Janardhanan told Gulf News by phone from his hometown in Kerala’s Kollam district. five members, adding our maid. We would have been charged 11,000 Dh to fly on a normal flight because a single return ticket costs 2,200 Dh. On this chartered flight, we only had to pay Dh 1,250 according to the user and stored on Dh 4750,” said Janardhanan, who works with a firefighting company in Dubai.
In addition to better airfares, seats were also limited on scheduled flights, he said. “It’s also tricky to book five tickets on the same flight before Eid and summer fever. We may have only taken connecting flights through Mumbai. We are pleased to have had this opportunity to fly early with less expensive tickets,” he added.
Ahead of another flight organized through Equator Travels under the Ras Al Khaimah ECH organization in Kozhikode on Tuesday night, passenger Gopika Ajay said she was flying with four members of her family circle. “I haven’t been home in four years and searched after flying this summer. When we tried to book e-tickets last month, the airfares were too high,” said the Khor Fakkan resident.
He said the family was afraid to pay between 1,500 and Dh2,000 depending on the passenger. “My husband was stuck at home during the COVID-19 lockdown. Despite everything, he managed to return to a charter flight organized by ECH. So when we found out that your company was arranging another flight from the UAE, we decided to take it.
Working as a school administrator in Khor Fakkan, she said it was the first time she had flown from Ras Al Khaimah. km. But, we thought even that was bigger than taking a connecting flight from Mumbai, where we would have had to wait about ten hours at the airport!
Iqbal Marconi, CEO of ECH, said the company made the decision to help members of the expat network who are recovering from breakneck airfares. We have now opted to offer tickets with prices of only 1,050 Dh, as several families bear the brunt of the best airfares between the UAE and India ahead of the Eid festivities. Families in Keralite looking for tickets with e-book prices to celebrate Eid at home, after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, have been hit hard by ticket prices. This is our first flight. We will try to arrange more flights for this summer.
Arun Radhakrishnan, chief operating officer of Al Hind Travels, said the company contracted repatriation flights with network organisations such as the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre in 2020. The chartered plane arrives without passengers from India. Even then, we have only made a nominal profit with the freight of 4 flights so far and we have had to pay the extra etc.
While the first charter flight took off from Sharjah to Thiruvananthapuram on July 3, the timing will be a flight from Ras Al Khaimah to Kozhikode on July 7, he said. “We have two flights operating from Sharjah to Kozhikode on July 8. All flights are already full. We are going to get more spaces,” Radhakrishnan added.
Mohammedali Saheer, a resident of the United Arab Emirates, managed to save money by choosing a flight from Muscat to Kerala. The Ajman resident told Gulf News that his family traveled 480 miles from Ajman to Muscat to offer a reasonable flight for his children, who traveled with his friend’s family on July 4. “The children have holidays and we are looking to send them home for Eid Al Adha. My wife and I can’t fly now because of work commitments. So, we thought about sending young children home with my friend’s circle of relatives.
Saheer said most flights were already complete and the rest were exorbitantly priced. When their friends learned that they could save a lot of money by taking a flight from Oman to India, they decided to move on to Muscat. was 1,500 Dh. Another charter flight on the same day featured tickets priced at 1,400 Dh.
Noushad Salah, sales manager at Al Saadah Travels in Sharjah, said many Indian expats in the UAE have chosen the Oman address to return home this summer.
“Many families have returned home for at least two years due to COVID-19. Many of those families are taking this route. Oman buses from the UAE now drop passengers off at Muscat Airport for an additional charge of just 2 Omani rials. When we posted a video on social media, explaining how expats can fly for less than 900 Dh before Eid, it gained around 65,000 views. Now we are also looking to set up a package, adding a visa to Oman and a bus ticket.
Meanwhile, Radhakrishnan said many Indians had also taken flights from Abu Dhabi to Muscat to take their return flight from Muscat. “Some other people take e-visas to Oman and fly here with less expensive tickets,” he said.
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