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India-UAE flights: Family of 3 are only passengers on plane to Sharjah

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Sharjah - The three people flew from Hyderabad after being stranded for over three months.

Published: Sun 8 Aug 2021, 1:39 AM

  • By
  • SM Ayaz Zakir

A doctor's family who were stranded in India was pleasantly surprised with the UAE authorities giving priority to healthcare workers returning to the country.

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Dr Haritha Potu, a child health physician at Dr Ismail Healthcare group, and her husband, Srini Reddy, country head and general manager at Tech Mahindra along with their son were the only passengers in a 180-seater Air Arabia flight from Hyderabad to Sharjah on the day the resumption of flights was announced.

While travel from India resumed on August 5, the couple and their son returned to the UAE on August 3. This was despite the fact that they are not long-term Golden Visa holders.

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Dr Haritha had gone to India along with her husband and children for her father's last rites on April 18. After the UAE suspended flights on April 24, the family was stranded in India for over three months.

Reddy tried various options to return to the UAE after reading the Khaleej Times report on healthcare groups chartering flights for their doctors and nurses.

"We requested Air Arabia officials to help us for our return to our second home," said Reddy. "Air Arabia told us that UAE is in need of doctors and took care of our travel from Hyderabad."

According to Reddy, the airline arranged the permission to return and got the government's required approvals; they received the approval on July 31.

After booking and cancelling tickets six times due to the uncertainty around the resumption of flights, the family arrived in the UAE on August 3. Their younger son Sanjith Reddy, a student of GEMS Modern Academy, also travelled with them.

The couple had been vaccinated with both doses of Pfizer, which is a requirement for returning to the UAE.



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