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The SpiceJet flight carrying over 170 distressed Indians was supposed to depart from RAK International Airport at 6pm on Tuesday. Puttur Rahman, president of the UAE KMCC National Committee, attributed the delay to 'technical reasons'.
All passengers underwent mandatory IgG/IgM testing ahead of boarding, said Abdul Gafoor, one of the passengers. Passengers began boarding the flight at approximately 5.45pm on Wednesday, added Gafoor.
After waiting at the airport from 5pm to 11pm on Tuesday night, all passengers, including families, pregnant women, workers who suffered job losses and people on visit visas were moved to Royal View Hotel in RAK's Nakhel region.
Tickets priced at Dh1,300
Providing an explanation for breaking the ticket price ceiling placed by the Kerala government, Rahman said: "We received all approvals from respective local and Indian authorities. The flight to Kozhikode was delayed due to technical reasons. Also, people booked the tickets even before the government imposed the fare ceiling."
Rahman, however, maintained that it would be difficult for future chartered flights to adhere to the ceiling. "It is very difficult to get a private aircraft to fly at such low fares. The reason for launching this charter initiative is the high volume of demand from distressed Indians here. We have no intention of making profits on these flights. We just want these distressed persons to go back. Also, we are providing free tickets to 15 to 20 per cent of the passengers travelling with us."
As part of the Vande Bharat Mission on June 2, a total of six flights operated from Dubai to Kochi, Kannur, Coimbatore, Chandigarh, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram, carrying 1,055 passengers.
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