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Unauthorised chartered flights from UAE will not be allowed to land in India: DGCA

Dubai - The decision comes a few days after a chartered flight from the UAE landed in Mumbai without state approvals.

India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has warned airlines against operating unauthorised chartered flights from the UAE. The civil aviation body has told air traffic controllers (ATCs) via a letter to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to not allow such flights to land in India.
The decision comes a few days after a chartered flight from the UAE landed in Mumbai without state approvals, due to which nearly 200 passengers had to wait up to 12 hours at the airport's arrivals section, said a passenger on the flight.
The letter to AAI sent on July 15, titled 'Requirement of state consent for inbound charter flights from UAE', a copy of which Khaleej Times has seen, said, "It has been noticed that some of the charter flights coming from UAE to India do not have requisite state consent for the operation of such flights."
"It has been decided that the airline shall submit the approval of concerned state government to the ATC of the point of destination prior to their departure from airports in the UAE. ATC shall not allow the arrival unless the above approval is provided to them. This will come into effect 24 hours of the issue of this letter," the letter signed by deputy director general Sunil Kumar said.
Neeraj Agarwal, the Consul press, information, and culture from the Consulate General of India in Dubai said, "As per the standard procedure, in the revised SOP issued by the government of India on May 26, all air transport operators (ATOs) are required to approach the state government with documents including a passenger manifest and a charter request. Following these processes, the charterer is required to get a NOC from Indian missions in the UAE."  
The AAI manages most of the airports and their ATCs in the country.

"ATC shall not allow the arrival unless the above approval is provided to them," the DGCA said.
India resumed domestic passenger flights from May 25 after they were grounded for two months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Scheduled international passenger flights continue to remain suspended in India since March 23. However, international charter flights approved by the DGCA are allowed to operate.

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com