First direct flight from Dubai to Guwahati brings 189 stranded Indians back home

Many of the passengers were stranded in Dubai after India shut its international borders following the global Covid-19 crisis. A majority of them had lost their jobs in UAE, while some of them went on a visiting visa and were unable to return as their visas expired.

Explaining the historic air route that brought these stranded citizens home, Gaurav Keswani, a senior corporate sales executive at Satguru Travel and Tourism, which worked with the volunteers and organised the flight, said, "We did Guwahati because no one was taking care of Indians from the north east. We started looking into it after we received many requests and since we had the resources, we decided to help."

The tickets from Dubai to Guwahati cost Dh 1,500 (around 30,500 INR) per head. Many businessmen and voluntary groups raised funds and sponsored some of the passengers. The volunteers who were working towards the initiative said that Friday's flight was a long time in the making.

According to the Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi, out of the 4,50,000 Indians who hAD registered to return home, more than 1,25,000 have been repatriated since May 7. At the outset of the process, only the state-owned Air India was permitted to operate repatriation flights, but later, the government also allowed other private operators to join in. Many more from Northeast India reportedly are stuck in the UAE are waiting for a ticket to return back ho

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