Dubai Civil Aviation Authority Suspends Air India Express Operations For 15 Days After Another Covid- 19 Passenger Found Onboard

Dubai Civil Aviation Authority has suspended all Air India Express operations till October 2 after a Covid 19 positive passenger was found onboard a Jaipur-Dubai flight on September 4th.

New Delhi: In a set back to Air India the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority has suspended all operation of Air India Express to Dubai Airports suspended for 15 days. This decision as taken after a Covid 19 positive passenger was found onboard a Jaipur-Dubai flight on September 4^th. This was the second such incident. The Dubai authority has suspended operation till October 2^nd. In an official notice, the Dubai authorities have said "All operation of Air India Express to Dubai Airports suspended for 15 days till October 2 after a COVID-19 positive passenger was found onboard a Jaipur-Dubai flight on September 4. It was 2nd such instance," said SA Kankazar, Air Transport, and International Affairs Sector, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority in a report by ANI. The notice also gave information about the flight in which the passenger was found and said that it was a reference to flight No. IX1135 operated by Air India Express on 4th September 2020, from Jaipur (JAI) to Dubai International Airport. It also said that the passenger onboard possessed 'positive test result for COVID-19, issued on 2nd September 2020 by the Suryam Diagnostic Centre.' A report by PTI says that as per the UAE government rules, each passenger travelling from India needs to bring an original COVID-negative certificate from RT-PCR test done 96 hours prior to the journey. "A passenger, who had a COVID-positive certificate dated September 2, travelled on Air India Express' Jaipur-Dubai flight on September 4. A similar incident had happened with a passenger on one of the airline's other Dubai flights previously," said one of the officials. Therefore, the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority has suspended Air India Express flights from September 18 to October 2, the officials stated in the report. Last month, Hong Kong authorities had banned Air India flights from traveling to the region for two weeks due to Covid 19. According to media reports, the Hong Kong authorities put restrictions for two weeks starting from August 18. A report by South China Morning Post has said that the authorities have taken the decision because the flights were 'carrying too many persons infected with Covid 19.'