Only charter flights from UAE permitted to operate to India till July 26: Civil aviation ministry

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on Wednesday summoned four United Arab Emirates (UAE) airlines – Air Arabia, FlyDubai, Emirates and Etihad – and directed them

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on Wednesday summoned four United Arab Emirates (UAE) airlines – Air Arabia, FlyDubai, Emirates and Etihad – and directed them to stop operations of their commercial flights and permitted only charter flights from the country to fly to India till July 26.

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A ministry official said, “The airlines, along with UAE’s ambassador to India, were summoned by the aviation secretary on Wednesday and were asked to stop their unauthorised flights movements with immediate effect.”

On July 9, the government decided to allow UAE and Indian carriers to operate only charter flights from UAE to India. However, according to ministry officials, since July 12, UAE carriers unilaterally started commercial operations to India, for which it planned schedules and sold tickets.

The development comes after Air Arabia operated its commercial flights to Mumbai over the last weekend without seeking requisite permissions from the Maharashtra government. On Monday, HT reported that the state government issued a show-cause notice to the airline over the issue for violating rules and asked Air Arabia to respond by the next day.

While rules permit only charter flights to operate, an airline must get traffic clearance from the respective destination states as well as the Indian embassy. MoCA said this rule was brought to ensure that flights landing in the country are legitimate charter flights commissioned by either a community or a corporate house.

On Thursday, Valsa Nair, principal secretary of state aviation department, said, “Air Arabia has apologised, and said it will ensure that the violation won’t be committed again.”

Taking cognisance of the matter, aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday asked air traffic control (ATC) across the country to allow UAE flights to land, provided the airlines submit documents showing approvals from the respective states to the controllers before their departure to the destination airport.

Arun Kumar, director general of DCCA, said, “We have tightened the rules and things are falling in place now.”