Air Arabia to operate repatriation flights from India this week

Sharjah-based low cost carrier Air Arabia will operate new repatriation flights from four cities in India to bring back UAE nationals, it announced on Monday.

The special flights will operate from Mumbai and Delhi to Sharjah International Airport on April 20 while special flights will operate from Cochin and Hyderabad to on April 22.

The airline announced earlier that it’s operating a mix of repatriation flights as well as cargo flights during the month of April to multiple destinations including Afghanistan, Iran, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Sudan, Egypt, India and Nepal.

Read: Air Arabia announces new repatriation and cargo flights

On April 17, the carrier operated a special repatriation flight from Nepal to Sharjah carrying UAE nationals back home free of charge.

“Air Arabia remains committed to bring stranded citizens back home as well as supporting requests to operate repatriation flights and is working closely with UAE authorities in this regard,” it said in a statement.

The UAE government announced on March 25 that it was temporarily suspending all passenger flights from the country as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

However, local airlines including Etihad Airways, Emirates and flydubai have now started operating repatriation flights to select destinations.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways also intends to operate a select network of scheduled passenger services from May 1 to June 30, with the aim to return to a fuller schedule, it announced last last week.

The announcement is subject to the UAE government lifting its restrictions on passenger travel.

Read: Etihad to commence limited passenger services from May 1