UAE authorities have cracked down on the pooling of charter flight seats after the closure of scheduled access from India led to a spike in numbers of flights to the UAE. The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) issued a notam yesterday indicating that charter companies attempting to offer seats to third-party passengers on flights to reduce costs would not be permitted to continue service.

“When business aircraft are used to transport passengers from restricted destinations, they shall not be pooled or sold per seat,” it said. “Operators hired for pooling or ‘per seat offer’ may be banned from operating in the UAE. The GCAA is collecting all information required from local authorities to verify flight and passenger information.”

UAE officials also said airline flights from India would remain suspended until June 14, increasing demand placed on private operators to ferry passengers from the subcontinent as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to rage in India. According to local news, a travel operator in Dubai said the only categories of passengers allowed on business jet charter flights arriving from India into the UAE are families, UAE citizens, diplomats, official delegations, golden residency visa holders, and businesspeople.