Dubai: A UAE resident is thanking his lucky stars for a fine that caused him to miss his flight back home.
Abu Dhabi resident Afzal KP was late by five minutes to pay an overstay fine which saved him from the fateful Kerala-bound Air India Express flight, Gulf News reported.
The 26-year-old was supposed to board the Air India Express Flight IX1344 from Dubai to Kozhikode on Friday but instead, he stood at the Dubai International Airport feeling awful that he had missed his flight.
“I was supposed to leave UAE by July 10, after my work visa with Royal Dates, where I worked, expired in June," he told Gulf News.
"Due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, I was unable to travel back. At first, I thought of remaining in the UAE till December with a visa extension. But, as flights opened up for repatriation, I decided to apply to return on a Vande Bharat mission.”
After days of waiting, he finally received a ticket for August 7.
“I was happy I was going to return to Mattannur in Kannur, my hometown, after more than a year, I would get to see my mother. I am also engaged, and our families were planning to set a wedding date after I completed quarantine.”
Afzal checked with Tasheel to find out if he had any pending penalties or fines to close, and was told everything was clear.
“On August 6, I reached Sharjah and stayed there, before heading out to Dubai next morning. At 8:30am, I was in the airport, excited and ready. I gave my blood test at the counter. I got my boarding pass, my seat number was 18C.
"The flight was scheduled for 1:30pm, as we waited at the airport, I got acquainted with a co-passenger named Ayesha, and helped her with her luggage once we started queuing up. However, at the immigration counter, she got her eye-test and boarded. But, I was stopped, and the officials told me I had a pending fine of around Dh1000 for overstay, which needed to be cleared before I could board.”
Afzal was short by nearly Dh500 and tried to convince officials to allow him to board when he was given an option to leave without paying, which would result in him having issues when he returned to the country.
"This was not okay for me as I had found another job, and would need to return after two months. This is when some Air India staff members at the airport suggested that I try and arrange for the remaining amount, since I had some more time before the flight took off.”
He phoned a friend who stepped in to help him by sending someone to the airport with the money, but he was a few minutes late.
Afzal was told that the flight was taking off and handed back his boarding pass so he could collect his luggage.
Feeling miserable, he went to his sister's home in Deira, where he had lunch and slept.
He was awoken to his phone ringing incessantly - it was friends calling him to tell him of the crash.
"I couldn’t believe it! I am still in shock, and trying to get in touch with the family of the co-passenger whom I had tried to help board, I hope she is alright,” Afzal added.
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