Air Arabia flight operating from Coimbatore to Sharjah devoid of passengers and cargo owing to weekend Covid-19 curfew
Coimbatore: With a complete curfew clamped across Tamil Nadu on Sunday in an effort to control the spread of Covid-19, workers at the airport who pack flowers and vegetables that are to be exported by Air Arabia did not turn up.
Airport sources said, "A 10-day curfew has been imposed in the United Arab Emirates. Travellers from various foreign countries including India are banned from entering UAE. Also, flights operated from those countries, including Sharjah and Dubai can only be used by their citizens.
The Air Arabia service which is operated five days a week between Coimbatore and Sharjah was affected owing to the implementation of the curfew in Tamil Nadu over the weekend. Export of flowers from the Southern districts and the export of mangoes from Salem, and vegetables from various other districts were also affected at the airport," they added.
"As the workers did not arrive this morning for packing because of the lockdown, the cargo was not loaded onto the flight to Sharjah. Bookings for other engineering industrial goods were also not done. Hence, the Air Arabia flight took off without passengers or cargo. This aircraft can carry a maximum of 3 tons of cargo and upto 9 tons of cargo if there are no passengers. However, nobody booked for the flight today due to the weekend curfew. But, the plane which landed in Coimbatore earlier this morning was carrying more than 100 people from Sharjah," revealed airport sources.
Airport sources said, "A 10-day curfew has been imposed in the United Arab Emirates. Travellers from various foreign countries including India are banned from entering UAE. Also, flights operated from those countries, including Sharjah and Dubai can only be used by their citizens.
The Air Arabia service which is operated five days a week between Coimbatore and Sharjah was affected owing to the implementation of the curfew in Tamil Nadu over the weekend. Export of flowers from the Southern districts and the export of mangoes from Salem, and vegetables from various other districts were also affected at the airport," they added.
"As the workers did not arrive this morning for packing because of the lockdown, the cargo was not loaded onto the flight to Sharjah. Bookings for other engineering industrial goods were also not done. Hence, the Air Arabia flight took off without passengers or cargo. This aircraft can carry a maximum of 3 tons of cargo and upto 9 tons of cargo if there are no passengers. However, nobody booked for the flight today due to the weekend curfew. But, the plane which landed in Coimbatore earlier this morning was carrying more than 100 people from Sharjah," revealed airport sources.