Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (MS)

Mangaluru, Jan 4: The maximum journey time from the city to any destination in UAE is just three and a half hours. However, the passengers are subjected to five hours of waiting in the airport in order to get permission to travel.

Intensive checking is being done in the international airport in city for international travellers due to the Covid Omicron variant threat. As soon as a traveller enters the airport, his documents are checked and QR code is scanned. This is in addition to the permission obtained to travel from an overseas country.

Mangaluru International Airport (file photo)

Passengers have to undergo Covid test 48 hours prior to travel. This is usually done free of cost or one may need to pay Rs 500 if it is done in a private hospital. However, the same checking costs Rs 3,000 at the airport. This becomes a burden to the traveller as most of the times, they are not aware of this.

The NRIs complain that it is not right to test again at airport once a person has the Covid of test report generated 48 hours. They say that Arab countries have never asked for six hours-prior journey test.

As the RT-PCR test message comes to Indian mobile number, the passenger is bound to carry the Indian SIM card or mobile phone with them. Some passengers, unaware of this information face problems at the airport. After the RT-PCR sample is collected, the passenger is made to wait outside. Once the report arrives, the officials at the airport conduct another check. If it is Indigo, then the airlines staff also do one more round of physical checking. This needs additional time. Once these checks are over the immigration officials do the procedures.

All the international counters are closed one hour prior to travel. So minimum of five hours are required for passenger to travel from city airport.

Only three to four people are deputed to help more than 200 passengers. This increases their work pressure. There is no system in the airport that gives information on various tests.

One should have a RTPCR negative report generated within 48 hours of departure, a certificate proving two doses of vaccination, air ticket, permission message from respective overseas country and QR code, mobile phone having Indian number and Rs 3,000 for Covid test.