Pune: Fresh travel regulations, including the 10-day institutional quarantine for arrival, introduced by Qatar on Monday has affected many planning to fly to UAE through Doha.
The airline has announced direct flights to Qatar in August from various parts of the country, producing a wave of bookings on the Indian-Doha-Dubai route, travel agent said.
UAE prohibits trips from India on April 25, but relaxed some restrictions on Thursday.
Pradhikaran Resident Dinesh Shingote (32), who booked tickets from Mumbai to Doha and advanced to Dubai for August 10, said the changes were financially.
“I paid Rs 32,000 for tickets and also bought tickets from Doha to Sharjah for RS 13,000,” Shingote Toi said.
The travel agent said they received several questions for flights to the UAE for the past two months and expected a large number of orders.
“Many people with the UAE Residency visa have been stranded in India since April.
The number of calls increased in the last two days,” Nilesh Bhansali, director of the Pune travel agent association, said.
Tourists ruped that institutional quarantine costs in Qatar will be more than charges for ticket cancellations.
Another traveler said he canceled the ticket to Doha assuming that quarantine costs must be borne by it.