NRIs stranded as DGCA nixes permit for Dubai flight

HYDERABAD: A group of NRIs, who booked a 52-seat chartered flight from the city to Dubai, were left stranded and disappointed on Wednesday as the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has withdrawn permission for chartered flights to the UAE. The NRIs had booked the chartered flight for Rs 85 lakh.
As many as 160 NRIs, who had come home in March, are stranded here because of the Covid-19 situation and lockdown. They had applied to book a 150-seater chartered flight to return to UAE but they could not get permission for that.
“We want to return to our homes in the UAE. We have our jobs there. Our families are there and after all the effort we put into organising a chartered flight, the permission by DGCA has been withdrawn,” said S Srinivasa Rao, a mechanical engineer who works for a power station in the UAE. He and his wife were on a short trip to India in March and had booked their return tickets on March 20. But UAE announced a lockdown from March 19 and subsequently, lockdown was announced in India.