‘Finally, we reached home’: Special flight carrying 200 Gujaratis from UAE lands in Mumbai

The group, including several senior citizens, remained on the edge the entire duration that the flight was airborne after it took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The group returned to Nadiad and Anand on Thursday by road from Mumbai.

Bharti Patel, 51, who was on the flight with her husband Vimal, said, “When we took off from the UAE, all of us were praying for a safe flight. The entire duration of the flight of approximately three hours, we remained anxious, knowing that we were flying through a war zone… When the flight landed in Mumbai, it was a different feeling. Finally, we reached home… We are safe now.”

The flight was arranged by a special arrangement through the Indian Embassy, local people and Air Arabia to evacuate the group of about 200 individuals, who had travelled to the UAE through Anand-based Yogi Overseas, especially to visit the Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi.

The flight was arranged by a special arrangement through the Indian Embassy, local people and Air Arabia to evacuate the group of about 200 individuals, who had travelled to the UAE through Anand-based Yogi Overseas, especially to visit the Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi.

Patel, a resident of Nadiad, recounts the fright her group felt when they were holed up in their hotel.

“It all began so suddenly… We had spent the first four days sightseeing as per our schedule. We had visited the Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi too. On day five, we were headed to Burj Khalifa when we saw the debris of a missile that had been brought down… there was fire. Thereafter, the continuous sounds of explosions filled the air… As per the advice of our tour manager, we remained indoors,’ Patel said.

“We could not visit the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, which was on our tour itinerary,” he added.

Patel adds that for about three days that the group remained confined to the hotel room, the sounds of missiles grew more frequent as the conflict intensified.

“Many in the group were senior citizens, some even requiring wheelchair assistance… Most of us were on the edge as the airspace was closed and none of us was mentally prepared to remain stranded or even bear costs that could have increased. Fortunately, our tour operator took care of the arrangements even though our stay got extended beyond the stipulated days… ”

Kaushal Dhamecha, owner of the travel firm, had stayed back in UAE to ensure the evacuation of some more individuals, and will be returning on Friday on one of the chartered aircrafts. Dhamecha told The Indian Express, “When the conflict broke out without a warning, we were caught unaware… I immediately instructed the groups to remain indoors while we worked on ensuring evacuation as the airspace had been closed and our return flight was among those cancelled.”

Apart from making arrangements for evacuation, Dhamecha said that the hotel also extended complete cooperation in providing meals and other necessary facilities to the passengers.
“We took the help of the BAPS Abu Dhabi head priest, Brahmavihari Swami, as well as Atmavatsal Swami, who extended their complete support in making arrangements. The Consulate General of India in the UAE and the Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi helped us in arranging the flight with Air Arabia at no extra cost for the passengers. I decided to stay back as I wanted to ensure that everyone had departed without trouble.”

Dhamecha and his tour manager have now booked a chartered flight costing Rs 70,000 per person for Friday.

Skyrocketing ticket prices

Several other Indian tourists continue to be stranded in the UAE as commercial flights remain suspended and fares on chartered flights are “unaffordable”.

A family of eight from Bharuch currently stranded in Dubai says it is awaiting evacuation by the Indian government.
Requesting anonymity, the family said, “We were visiting the UAE on a private holiday package through an aggregator. Our return flight was scheduled for March 4 and since the operations had resumed, we were relieved that we would return safely. But now, the airspace is closed and we are stranded… We inquired about charter flights but they are too expensive, costing over Rs 1 lakh per person. We hope that the government of India will use its diplomatic ties to safely bring Indian tourists back.”

Advocate Shailesh Amin from Vadodara, who is currently in UAE with his family – stranded after a vacation – on Thursday, criticised the Indian government for its “failure” to evacuate Indian nationals from the conflict-affected Gulf region.

“Indian tourists in the Middle-East, including UAE, are currently facing troubles… Even on the fifth day since the conflict broke out, there is no sign of evacuation or relief from the Government of India for the Indian nationals. There is a syndicate of aviation operators that are operating chosen flights from UAE to India, with ticket prices costing close to ten times than the usual price… or then, there are charter flights that are flying out of Fujairah airport at exorbitant prices,” Amin said.

Kuwait

A group of Indian nationals stranded in Kuwait has “given up hope” of evacuation, after being asked to bear the expenses of the extended stay and meals in the country until the airspace remains closed.

The Indian nationals, comprising several Gujarat residents, have urged the Indian Embassy to facilitate their travel to Saudi Arabia via the land border as the Kuwait airspace continues to remain closed. An Indian national, requesting anonymity, told The Indian Express, “We have learnt that local agents, in lieu of a hefty fee, are willing to help stranded tourists cross over to Saudi Arabia as flights are operating from Jeddah to different parts of the world. Currently, with no other option in sight and as the Kuwait Airlines have asked us to bear further expenses of our stay, the only way forward is to head to a country where airports are at least partially functional and flights available to travel.”