- Saturday, April 27, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
PASSENGERS who are planning to fly from India to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been cautioned against fake chartered flights after a travel agency said that it will be arranging a ‘special business charter flight’ on July 7. Go First (also known as GoAir), which is India’s low-cost carrier, on Thursday (1) came up with the warning against the fake chartered flight.
In an announcement to address its travel partners and customers, GoAir, which is headquartered in Mumbai, said, “This is to notify that Go First (GoAir India Ltd) has not committed/contracted any charter operations from India to the UAE in the current scenario when clearance from the authorities concerned is still not available.”
It also added, “Any information circulated by a third party through any means of communication taking Go First or GoAir name should be considered as FAKE, and Go First will not be responsible for any information or related transactions.”
Jaleel Khaled, regional head of GoAir, said the warning was issued after the travel agency said it would be contracting a GoAir flight for chartered service between Kochi and Sharjah, Gulf News reported.
“This is illegal. We have sent a legal notice to them and also issued this announcement so that passengers don’t get duped,” he told Gulf News. “We will not be answerable if anyone makes payment for the so-called flight as we are not operating any such flight.”
GoAir asks passengers to check eligibility, flight approvals
Khaled said it was advisable for the passengers to check their eligibility for travel and confirm approvals for their flights before making any payment. An advertisement for the flight went rounds on WhatsApp mentioning special business charter-quoted ticket prices starting at Dh1,650 ($450). It included besides the air ticket, rapid-antigen test, one-night hotel quarantine with meal and transport between airport and hotel.
“Passengers must have received two doses of Sinopharm, Pfizer, Sputnik or CoviShield vaccine. Valid UAE resident visa holders can apply,” the advertisement said.
The GoAir official said the airline also found evidence of the employees of the travel agency informing potential customers that they partnered with GoAir, the report added.
Meanwhile, the UAE decided to ban its citizens from traveling to a number of countries, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The move came after the UAE in June extended the travel ban on passengers from 14 countries until July 21 in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.
