Chennai: Emotions ran high at Chennai International Airport on Wednesday as 364 Indians stranded in the United Arab Emirates amid escalating tensions in West Asia landed safely in Chennai on the second Emirates Airlines flight from Dubai, reuniting with their family members who welcomed them at the airport.With this arrival, a total of 581 passengers have safely reached Chennai from Dubai, including 217 who landed in the city on Tuesday. While some relatives, impatiently waiting to receive their dear ones, broke down upon noticing them exiting the arrival terminal, many passengers said the situation in Dubai was not as alarming as projected, as people continued to carry out their daily chores, but with caution. Dharshini, who lives in the city said that she felt safe where she was staying, though the sounds of explosions and defence aircraft zooming past created panic. Another Chennai-based passenger, Peter, said he went to Dubai with family members for holidays, but returned due to the untoward developments in the region. “We were taken care of well at the airport,” he said.Saravanakumar from Salem, who got stuck in Dubai while returning from the US, said the public was largely unaffected by the tension in the region.Meanwhile, flight operations to and from destinations such as Dubai, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Bahrain continued to be suspended on Wednesday.Etihad announced that its flights to Abu Dhabi were cancelled on Thursday and Friday, whereas its flight to Abu Dhabi from Chennai on Wednesday carried passengers to Abu Dhabi, while not allowing those with a connecting flight from Abu Dhabi.IndiGo, in a statement, said it commenced its limited operations to Athens, Muscat, Jeddah, and Madinah, along with select repatriation flights to the UAE. However, no repatriation flights were operated to Chennai until Thursday.
