Aircraft From War-hit Gulf Arrive In Hyderabad
IndiGo Airlines, in a statement issued early on Tuesday, said flights were scheduled to start from Jeddah and land in Hyderabad.
Hyderabad: An Oman Air flight, the first from the Gulf region after the war broke out, landed at the Shamshabad airport at about 3 pm on Tuesday. It was followed by an Emirates flight at about 8 pm. Family members received the returning passengers with deep emotion. The Oman Air aircraft carried only about 30 passengers, as the fare was said to be very high.
Preenithi Kumar and her husband, travelling from London to Hyderabad, said they were stranded during a layover at Dubai airport on Saturday after bombing began. The airline provided accommodation and food, but they said there was no clear information about flight schedules and customer care and hotel reception did not respond. Their Emirates flight later reached Hyderabad.
Earlier in the day, US citizens Mock and Haley, residents of North Carolina, who reached the city via the Oman Air flight, said, “We started on Friday from JFK airport in New York; the layover was at Abu Dhabi. Since the region was bombed, we were in Oman for four days.” They praised the people of Oman for being cooperative and helpful and were happy to arrive in Hyderabad.
Another Oman Air passenger Nikhal Kara, who owns a manufacturing unit in Coimbatore and has a contract for automation of machinery in Kuwait, said, “The flight ticket fare for this flight was too expensive. I paid `1.5 lakh for this trip. There were around 30 passengers in the flight. The aircraft had to return empty, because no one will be travelling to West Asia now.”
“The Gulf countries have thousands of Indian workers, earning meagre income. Though they want to return back to the country, they can’t afford the ticket fare. The government should help him to come back,” he said.
IndiGo Airlines, in a statement issued early on Tuesday, said flights were scheduled to start from Jeddah and land in Hyderabad. Though seven flights had been scheduled, none of them could take off. The airline also said that it had begun repatriation efforts in coordination with relevant authorities in India and respective governments in West Asia.
“Four such flights are now enroute to Jeddah and one is expected to be operated to and from Muscat. From March 4, more scheduled flights are expected to be offered. The operations to West Asian destinations include Muscat, Jeddah, and Madinah.
IndiGo will operate 13 repatriation flights to the UAE, following required approvals. “Given the evolving situation, details will be confirmed at a later stage.”
