First 4 charter flights to Kolkata unlikely to take off

KOLKATA: The first set of charter flights that were to bring back Kolkatans stranded in the Gulf have been cancelled in the absence of approval from the authorities. The cancellations have left families anxiously waiting for repatriation to the city in the lurch with no clarity on when they can take a flight back home.
Sources in the travel trade industry said all four charter flights — which were announced after the state government issued a revised SOP on international flight operations — were cancelled in the absence of a no-objection certificate. The flights were scheduled on August 13 (Dubai), 14 (Abu Dhabi), 15 (Sharjah) and 18 (Muscat).
Repatriation flights during the pandemic require the nod of the Indian embassy in the country of origin, external affairs ministry and state government. A state government official said it had not cancelled any NOC, but did not clarify if an NOC had been issued to any of these flights.