Free rebooking for UAE-bound passengers without API approval: Air India Express

Dubai - Passengers will just have to pay the fare difference, if any.

India's budget carrier has offered passengers free date change for passengers who couldn't travel because they haven't received their advanced passenger information (API) approval.
Air India Express made the announcement on its Twitter page on Wednesday, following mass rejections of passengers who were travelling from India to the UAE at immigration counters. The airline assured that rebooking will be free, and passengers will just have to pay the fare difference, if any.
Neeraj Agarwal, consul for Press, Information, and Culture at the Consulate-General of India in Dubai, said: "Right now, we are facing less of these issues. Three to four weeks ago, several passengers could not board the flight to the UAE due to this API issue, which was mostly a technical glitch."
Agarwal said the civil aviation authorities of both countries were alerted and the problems have been largely resolved.
Handwritten RT-PCR tests ill not be accepted
In its most recent blog update, passengers travelling from India to UAE have been asked not to submit hand-written RT-PCR test results to airport authorities as it will not be accepted by civil aviation and health authorities in the UAE or in India.
The airline has released a list of mandatory negative Covid-19 RT-PCR medical test requirements on its blog.
First, the negative COVID-19 RT-PCR Medical Test result should only be taken from Indian Council of Medical Research, Pure Health, or Micro Health accredited laboratories.
Second, the test result should be issued, duly signed and stamped in the original letterhead of the testing lab. Third, the test result should not be handwritten or have corrections.
It added, "Kindly note that photocopies of the results will not be accepted." The mandatory 96-hour time frame begins from the time, date the swab, or sample was collected for test.
True NAT/CB-NAAT methodology is not being accepted and only nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab test analysed by Real-Time RT-PCR is accepted.
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com 

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• India