Ahead of resuming flight services to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), airports in India are preparing contingency measures to cut the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in their premises, reports said, adding that a rush of passengers headed for Dubai and other parts of the Gulf nation is to be expected once the flights become operation. According to a Gulf News report, the international airports in Mumbai and Hyderabad are preparing for UAE flight services, which will include rapid PCR and lab testing.
Flights to Dubai were supposed to resume on June 23, but had to be rescheduled due to the coronavirus outbreak. As India battled a devastating second wave of Covid-19, the UAE first suspended air travel to and from India in April; the ban was later extended until July 6. Flights from India to Dubai and Abu Dhabi are expected to resume on July 15 and 21, respectively, according to the latest updates.
According to Gulf News, which cited an unnamed Mumbai International Airport (MIA) official familiar with the development, the Mumbai airport keeps its premises sanitised at all times and has also instituted a rapid PCR-testing facility that provides results in just 13 minutes. “We also have a lab right inside the airport to help the passengers get the report at the earliest,” the report quoted the official as saying. “We already have the facilities at the departures as well as the arrivals and we have ample counters to meet requirements,” the airport official was quoted.
The Hyderabad airport, on the other hand, has partnered with Mapmygenome, a Covid-19 testing lab certified by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), according to the report, and the coronavirus testing facility will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
According to the report, it is still unclear whether the India-UAE travel channel will be pushed back again, citing an airport spokesperson who stated that the reopening of the airline travel route will be contingent on timely clearance from the UAE government.
