Coronavirus Pandemic: Indigo to cut number of flights to UAE; customers assured of refund

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IndiGo on Saturday said it will cancel some of its flights to the UAE after the Gulf country announced that it would suspend all entry visas, except diplomatic visas, from March 17 in view of the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement, the airline said, "Owing to the suspension of visas for all foreigners with the exception of diplomatic passport holders, IndiGo will be cancelling some of its flights to Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi w.e.f. March 17, 2020 until the travel restrictions are lifted."

"We regret the inconvenience caused to our customers, and will be refunding the full amount to the impacted passengers," it added.

The Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) stated on Saturday that the decision to suspend all visas, except diplomatic visas, from March 17 was taken as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Meanwhile, another private carrier, SpiceJet, said it had not planned cancellations as yet.

"We are reviewing the situation constantly. No cancellations have been planned yet," a spokesperson of the airline said.

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