Dubai: Bookings have re-opened on flight services from next week to Dubai from destinations in India, going by travel websites. Routes from India to Dubai are expected to re-open on July 15 after going through multiple delays, in part due to the fast-spreading ‘Delta variant’ of the COVID-19 virus. Abu Dhabi will allow Indian passengers from July 21. “We are expecting flights to open after Eid,” said a travel industry source.
On the first day of the to be confirmed travel resumption, the Indian carrier Vistara will operate a flight from New Delhi to Dubai. Emirates airline and budget carrier flydubai are seen as re-starting flights from India on July 16. Etihad Airways will resume flights from July 22.
Announcements so far
Emirates had previously said it would resume flights connecting India, South Africa and Nigeria to Dubai from June 23. This was following an announcement by the Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management in Dubai saying passengers from India with a valid residence visa who have received two doses of a UAE-approved vaccine will be allowed to travel to Dubai.
In the weeks leading up to the date, bookings opened for a brief period, during which several passengers bought tickets for their return to the UAE. Amidst this confusion, Air India put out a tweet saying that flights between India and UAE would remain suspended until July 6 – this was later confirmed by Emirates and Etihad.
On June 25, UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority in a Notice…