Iran war: Flights from West Asia resume, bringing stranded Indians home

NEW DELHI: In a bid to bring relief to hundreds of thousands of people stuck in West Asia since Saturday, Emirates, flydubai and Etihad Airways started operating special flights from Monday, including some to India.The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has also asked Indian operators to resume flights to open airspaces such as Oman and Saudi Arabia, with Air India Group and IndiGo starting services from Tuesday. There is huge demand for scheduled and charter flights from Indians stranded in conflict-torn West Asia, but operations depend on the situation in the region. IndiGo plans 10 special relief flights from Jeddah to India on Tuesday “to facilitate the return of stranded passengers, subject to necessary approvals and prevailing airspace conditions,” a government statement said.Air India Express will resume scheduled flights between Muscat and Delhi, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mangaluru, Mumbai and Tiruchirappalli from Tuesday. Air India has resumed flights to the US, Canada, Europe and the UK.Emirates said “priority will be given to customers who have booked in advance and those who have rebooked on these limited flights will be contacted directly by Emirates.”Monday’s flights include flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. As the airport resumed partial operations, 15 Etihad Airways flights also took off from Abu Dhabi “within three hours”, one each to Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kochi.“Special arrangements are being made to facilitate the movement of stranded passengers. Airlines are deploying additional capacity as required and are closely coordinating with foreign aviation authorities and Indian missions abroad to ensure safe and orderly movement of passengers,” India’s aviation ministry said in a statement.Air India has approached the Muscat authorities to operate charter flights (which is served by AI Express, which has only single-aisle in its fleet) as the group wants to deploy wide-body aircraft to transport as many people as possible. AI also plans to resume scheduled flights to Jeddah from Tuesday, using Boeing 777 aircraft with up to 342 seats. IndiGo is also planning multiple flights as it is also receiving a large number of requests for charter flights. Air India has received many requests for charter flights to Muscat, mostly from passengers stranded in the UAE.“There is AI Express service in Muscat, but AI does not operate there. AI wants to deploy wide-body aircraft, which besides carrying more passengers, have longer diversion range in areas where airspace is currently closed. Wide-body aircraft can have diversion airports in Mumbai or Ahmedabad. We are waiting to hear from the Muscat authorities,” said a person familiar with the matter.Gautam Sahni, managing director of Subha Aviation, India’s leading charter operator, said: “We have received an unprecedented number of group charter requests from Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah and elsewhere to multiple destinations across India. We are watching the window when the UAE airspace opens up to operate these flights and apply for permission accordingly. The indications we are getting are that this may happen within a day or two.”“