New Delhi: India and the UAE have agreed to allow their airlines to carry eligible passengers on both legs of their charter flights between the two countries to be operated from July 12 to July 26, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Thursday.
Currently, an Indian carrier operating a repatriation flight from the United Arab Emirates is not allowed to carry any passenger from here to the Gulf country. Similarly, a UAE carrier cannot carry passengers on the first leg of the charter flight -- from the UAE to India.
Many Indian nationals who have valid residence permits of the UAE and are currently in India have been complaining on social media for the last few weeks about the lack of flights between the two countries. India suspended all scheduled international passenger flights on March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Air India Express CEO K Shyam Sundar said on Twitter: "Happy to announce Air India Express has opened its flights between 12th and 26th July from India to UAE for sale to Indians with UAE Resident Permits."
Sundar's tweet came after the Civil Aviation Ministry announced on the microblogging site, "As part of the close strategic partnership between the governments of India and the UAE, and with a view to assisting UAE resident nationals who are at present in India to return to the UAE, the civil aviation authorities of both countries have agreed to operationalise the following arrangement from 12 July 2020."
Charter flights operated by UAE carriers will now be permitted to bring Indian citizens from the UAE to India and carry 'ICA-approved UAE residents' on their return leg, the ministry said.
ICA stands for the UAE's Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship. A passenger having a valid residency permit of the UAE needs to take ICA approval before taking any flight to enter that country.
The Civil Aviation Ministry said, "Indian carriers operating repatriation flights to bring Indian citizens from UAE to India will be allowed to carry the ICA-approved UAE residents (returning to UAE from India) on the outward journey from India to UAE."
On India to UAE journey, all these flights will carry only those passengers who are destined for the Gulf country, the Civil Aviation Ministry noted. This arrangement will be initially in place for a period of 15 days -- from July 12 to July 26 -- and will be reviewed after that, it added.
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Visakhapatnam (PTI): India fought back gallantly through Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Yadav after Quinton de Kock struck his 23rd hundred, keeping South Africa to a manageable 270 in the third and series-deciding final ODI, here Saturday.
India won the toss after judging the spin of the coin incorrectly 20 times in a row. They had little hesitation in inserting the Proteas into bat, a clear indication of dew factor dominating the thought.
After Arshdeep Singh sent back Ryan Rickelton early, De Kock (106, 89b, 8x4, 6x4) struck his seventh century against India and put on 113 runs off 124 balls with skipper Temba Bavuma (48, 67b) as the visitors moved to a healthy position.
De Kock was severe on Prasidh (4/66), who erred on length continuously in his first spell (2-0-27-0). The left-hander biffed the pacer for 6, 6, 4 in his second over to milk 18 runs.
The 32-year-old quickly pounced on anything that was short, and pacers Prasidh and Harshit offered him plenty of feed on his pet areas.
Bavuma was more sedate, and made runs through those typical dabs and jabs, occasionally unfurling a drive of elan.
De Kock moved to fifty in 42 balls, and never let the tempo down reaching his hundred in 79 balls.
India found temporary relief when Ravindra Jadeja induced a false slash from Bavuma to get caught by Virat Kohli at point.
The tourists got another move on through a 54-run partnership between De Kock and Matthew Breetzkle for the third wicket, and at 168 for two in 28 overs they were in a good position to press on.
But Breetzke's punishment of part-time spinner Tilak Varma forced a rethink in the Indian camp, as skipper KL Rahul brought back Prasidh for a second spell.
What a masterstroke it turned out to be! The Karnataka man broke the back of South Africa’s top and middle order in an exceptional second spell (4-0-11-3).
Breetzke was the first man to go, trapped plumb in front with a straight one and four balls later Aiden Markram uppishly chipped a fuller delivery to Kohli at short covers.
Prasidh soon castled De Kock, whose ugly cross-batted swipe failed to connect a full length delivery from the pacer.
All of a sudden, SA found themselves at a shaky 199 for five, losing three wickets in the space of three overs.
Once Prasidh was done away with the top and middle-order, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep (4/41) took over and mopped up the tail as SA fell short of even a par total on this track.
