Chartered flights from UAE get cancelled as India denies permission; Kozhikode, Madurai trips fail to take off on Saturday

UAE-based Indian welfare groups are anxious about the fate of future repatriation flights from the country after two chartered flights to India could not take off on Saturday in the absence of approvals from authorities in India, according to a Khaleej Times report.

The Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC), a welfare organisation, said the Etihad Airways EY254 flight that it had chartered from Abu Dhabi to Kozhikode on Saturday had to be cancelled ‘at the last moment’ because the Directorate of General Civil Aviation (DGCA) did not send the permissions necessary for it to land in India.

As per the Khaleej report, the flight carrying 183 passengers, was scheduled to take off at 2.20pm from the Abu Dhabi International Airport.

“We were taken by surprise because DGCA approvals usually come through only a few hours before the take-off. We had secured all necessary approvals from the Indian Embassy and the state government in Kerala. So, we had no reason to worry,” Shukoor Ali, President of KMCC Abu Dhabi, told Khaleej Times. 

“We have no idea what is happening. No official authority or the airline has given us an intimation on why the approval was denied,” he said. Ali added that  his organisation has in the past months operated 13 repatriation flights from Abu Dhabi, helping more than 2,500 Indians fly home. 

Similarly, a repatriation flight from Sharjah to Madurai did not take off on Saturday morning due to the absence of DGCA approval. QMS, a Tamil social organization functioning under the umbrella of KMCC, said 168 passengers could not fly home.

“We had chartered an Air Arabia flight after securing the other approvals. All the passengers arrived on time at the airport for the 4am flight but were left disappointed,” Abdul Rahman, Treasurer of QMS, told Khaleej Times.

Sheikh Saleem of Hali management consultancy in Sharjah, that booked an Air Arabia charter, said the airline informed him that DGCA approvals were not forthcoming for some repatriation flights. A flyDubai flight from Dubai to Madurai was also denied permission on Friday, he said.