Many coastal Kannadigas stuck abroad due to COVID travel bans

Mangaluru: The new strain of coronavirus has created a scare among the citizens, following which many international flight services have been suspended and only the flights to Dubai, Qatar, and Bahrain are operational.

As per reports, most Kannadigas abroad are finding it difficult to return to India.

former vice president of NRI Forum Karnataka, Arathi Krishna while speaking to a Kannada daily claimed to have information about a number of people finding it difficult to either visit India or to return to their work due to the absence of flights to Saudi Arabia and other countries.

Flights to Saudi Arabia have suspended a few weeks ago. In the past, people with work visas were traveling to UAE, quarantined there for 14 days, and later traveled to Saudi Arabia.

Hidayat Addoor, convener of Kannadigas Federation said that many people were compelled to stay in the hotels in UAE, awaiting the resumption of flights to Saudi Arabia.

Under the ‘Vande Bharat’ initiative, Air India flights to Dubai are operational on a daily basis from Mangaluru and SpiceJet and Indigo operate on certain days