For Rs 15,000, NRI bizman SPS Oberoi flies solo to Dubai on 248-seater AI plane

Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Gurdaspur, June 23

Dubai-based businessman and philanthropist Surinder Pal Singh Oberoi became the latest passenger to have an entire plane to himself while flying from India to the UAE.

Oberoi, who was in Gurdaspur yesterday to scout for land to establish a pathological laboratory, drove to the Amritsar airport around midnight to catch the early-morning flight (AI 929) to Dubai.

The businessman, who had bought a ticket for 740 dirhums (Rs 14,800), was caught by surprise when told by the Air India staff that he could not board the plane without assigning any valid reason. “They simply kept on saying that I could not board the aircraft. I tried to reason out with them but to no avail. The plane had actually flown in from the UAE and it was on its return journey. Initially, I thought the airline staff was not allowing me to board due to Covid-induced restrictions. I told them that I had a valid Covid-19 negative test. With just half an hour left for the plane to take-off, I made some calls to some important people in New Delhi following which things got moving,” Oberoi told The Tribune over phone from Dubai.

The businessman, a UAE golden visa holder, had flown to India from Dubai on June 12.

The UAE had suspended entry for passengers from India on April 24 following the second wave of Covid with only certain categories allowed to still fly into the country. These included members of the diplomatic missions, golden visa holders, UAE nationals and passengers specifically granted permission by the UAE authorities.

Oberoi said: “Last month, an Emirates flight had flown from Mumbai to Dubai with just one passenger Bhavesh Javeri, CEO of the Dubai-based Stargem group. He was the sole passenger of EK 501, paying 909 dirhams (Rs 17,700) for the trip.”