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NEW DELHI: A Saudi “pass” or transit visa has become one of the most sought-after travel documents for many Indians in Qatar – where they are the single-largest nationality, more than local Qataris – planning to return home. The same holds true for Bahrain, where too Indians are the largest expat community. They, along with people of other nationalities living in these two countries, are planning to take a flight back home from Saudi Arabia as airports in Doha and Bahrain remain mostly shut since February 28. While Iran’s conditional assurance on Saturday of not attacking its neighbours – unless those territories are used by the US and Israel to launch attacks on it – has come as a huge relief to almost every country in the Gulf, many there want to have a plan B if flights from Qatar and Bahrain don’t resume soon.
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For a majority of those stranded in the UAE, flying out of Muscat (Oman) remains the main Plan B. UAE airports like those in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Fujairah and Sharjah are able to handle a few flights depending on the situation which is not enough, given the number of Indians there wanting to come back home.Data from aviation analytics company Cirium shows all 98 flights set to operate from Bahrain were cancelled Saturday, while 321 of the 328 scheduled flights from Doha were cancelled. Dubai airport’s cancellation rate was almost 53% and the figure was over 76% for Abu Dhabi. On the other hand, less than 10% flights were cancelled at Jeddah; 15% at Riyadh; 18% Medina and 19% Muscat (all figures for Saturday).A Doha-based Indian, who did not wish to be named, said: “I have a US visa and am eligible for transit visa-on-arrival at the land border with Saudi, but my family members don’t have the same. We have applied for the pass visa and are awaiting the same. I want to have the Saudi visa ready so that we can leave via there if flights don’t start from Qatar and the war intensifies. While we hope for the best, we have to prepare for the worst.”Diplomats in the Indian embassies in Doha and Bahrain are getting frantic messages for Saudi visas. Driving across the land borders to go to Saudi or Oman requires preparation apart from visa work. A family planning to do so from Qatar has applied for a vehicle permit and packed for the journey as crossing the border is expected to take some time. “I will leave my car there as we can do so for 90 days. Hopefully, things will improve and I will come back to drive back to Qatar in my car,” the person said. Similarly, many others in Bahrain plan to drive across the “Friendship Bridge” – the 25-km King Fahd Causeway that connects to Saudi.According to the DGCA, 52,360 people have flown from the Gulf to India on Indian and UAE airlines and charter flights until Friday on 280 flights after the war broke out. Indian carriers had operated 184 of these flights, followed by 85 by UAE carriers and 11 charters. These flights operated from places like Muscat, Fujairah, Jeddah and Dubai.
