Decision by Kuwait’s Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to initiate mandatory health clearance certificates for passengers from 10 countries from 8 March, has led to a huge rush among Indians seeking to enter Kuwait before the new rule kicks in on Sunday.
In line with their policy of fleecing passengers at every opportunity that presents itself, airlines from India have risen to the task and hiked ticket prices by as much as 400 percent. A one-way ticket from India to Kuwait, which used to cost around KD50 to KD60 has now soared to over KD260. It is estimated that with nearly a million Indian expatriates in Kuwait, more than 100,000 Indians traveling between India and Kuwait over a three-month period could be affected by the DGCA decision.
Though the Kuwait consulate in Mumbai has issued a list of nearly 120 medical centers from where Indians could get themselves tested for COVID-19 infection, there is still a lot of confusion surrounding the tests and the medical centers selected. Some of the centers said they were not aware that they had been selected to conduct the tests, while many others said they were not equipped to conduct such tests or evaluate the results.
Airlines have also expressed their reservations at the DGCA order which states that airlines would be held responsible and have to bear the cost of returning passengers who fail to comply with the new rules. The airlines say their counter staff are not equipped to determine the veracity of certificates or whether they are from approved medical centers.
Clarifying this, the airport manager of one airline said: “Even as matters stand, airline counters at international airports in India are inundated with passengers and struggle to clear all of them in time for boarding. We are not in a position to handle the additional burden of verifying each passenger to ascertain whether their health certificates are authentic, or that they are from approved medical centers.” Another airline staff quipped in: “This is the job of the DGCA, since they are the ones who initiated the new rules. If there are violations then the DGCA must find the means to make the passenger pay for the fare back home.”
Meanwhile, Indians are making a beeline to the nearest airport to avail of flights at whatever cost, in order to reach Kuwait before the deadline for the new DGCA rule sets in on Sunday.
