New Delhi: Dubai Civil Aviation Authority has suspended all operations of Air India Express—the no-frill subsidiary of national carrier Air India Ltd—to operate across all airports in the country till 2 October after the airline was found to have carried covid-19 infected passengers on board of its flight to the Gulf nation on 4 September.
According to a communication addressed to the airline’s regional manager of Gulf, Middle East and Africa region on 17 September, Dubai’s Civil Aviation Authority states that it is suspending the airline’s operation in Dubai for a fortnight starting 18 September as the air carrier violated laid down protocols by carrying covid-19 infected passenger for the second time.
“Boarding a passenger with covid-19 positive test result for the second time, is contrary to and is in violation of the laid down procedures and/or protocols related to air travel to and from airports in the Emirate of Dubai, during the coronavirus SARS Cov. 2 pandemic,” the communication from Dubai’s aviation regulator said.
“Therefore, all operation of Air India Express to Dubai Airports is temporarily suspended, for a duration of 15 days, effective from 00:01 hrs on Friday 18 September 2020 until 23:59 hrs of 2 October 2020,” it said.
“In addition to the suspension of operation, you will be further notified to pay all the expenditure incurred by the respective authorities for medical services and/or quarantine of any passenger(s) and the other passengers in the flight and also any other expenditure connected thereto,” it added.
The Kochi-headquartered airline has also been asked to submit a detailed corrective action plan or implementation procedure to prevent such incidents from occurring again for resumption of its flights to Dubai.
A senior Air India Express official said that the airline will divert its Dubai-bound flights to Sharjah during the suspension period.
“The airline has apologized to the civil aviation authority of Dubai for the unfortunate incidents,” the official said requesting anonymity.
The latest incident of suspension of Air India Express’s operation in Dubai comes a month after one of the airline’s Boeing 737 jetliners carrying 191 people from Dubai skidded off a wet runway while landing at the Kozhikode airport in Kerala. The aircraft crashed into a ravine, breaking into two and leaving 17 people, including the two pilots, dead and several critically injured.
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