When two unlucky passengers turned lucky

Two men who were unlucky as they could not board the Dubai- Kozhikode Air India Express flight are now thanking their stars that they missed the ill-fated aircraft. Gulf News reported the testimonies of two lucky men who were off-loaded from the flight because they did not have enough cash with them to pay the visa overstay fines.

Noufal Moin Vetten, who worked as an office boy in a Sharjah school and lived in Ajman, had a ticket for the flight and checked in as per schedule. The Mallapuram Thirunavaya native’s visa was cancelled a week ago, so when he reached immigration after collecting his boarding pass, he was told to pay a fine of Dh1000 for overstay.

Since he had only Dh500, he called his school PRO who asked him to come back. The school promised to follow protocols and pay fines before sending him on a flight. Noufal now feels relieved though he is sad for all the passengers who were on the flight. He thanked God for being merciful.

Afsal Parrakodan, a resident of Abu Dhabi, was the second person who faced a similar situation. His work visa was cancelled about a week ago. Though he got his boarding pass, he did not have Dh1000 to pay the fine.

Like Noufal, he too was disappointed about missing the flight and being unable to return to his family in Kerala. Though a friend brought him the additional Dh500 he needed to pay, his baggage had been offloaded by then and the flight’s doors closed. He is thanking God for saving his life, and plans to fly home next week.