DUBAI // A strike by pilots of Air India has forced the airline to cancel 60 per cent of its scheduled flights from the UAE.
Hundreds of passengers who had booked flights with the airline will now be placed with other airlines or onto Air India Express.
The strike is now in its fifth day, and Air India has stopped taking bookings for the next three days in the Middle East and Africa.
Staff at Air India's Dubai office said disruption to customers was minimised with alternative flights.
Abhay Patak, the company's Dubai-based manager, said: "People who have booked with us and have had their flights cancelled will be placed on alternative flights so that they can continue their journeys."
"We have placed passengers who have been inconvenienced by the ongoing dispute on other airlines or onto our Air India Express budget service," Mr Patak said.
"We have been in a much better position today because of the arrangements we have made to charter extra planes and use larger capacity planes."
Mr Patak would not say how many flights were cancelled yesterday and would not comment on what might happen today, but he said that Air India was continually monitoring the situation.
However, media reports in India said 125 flights had been affected across Air India's domestic and international network.
The strike involves 600 pilots and is now in its fifth day. It was sparked by a pay dispute with members of the Indian Commercial Pilots Association.
The pilots who are striking are former employees of the original India Airlines, which merged with Air India in 2007.
They are demanding pay parity with their colleagues at Air India who they say earn more.
Management at Air India say that the strike is illegal because it is subject to an ongoing tribunal.
The Indian government has appointed a senior judge to look into how the merger can be more smoothly implemented.
nhanif@thenational.ae
Five expert hiking tips
Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
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6.30pm Handicap US$135,000 (Turf) 2,410m
7.05pm UAE 1000 Guineas Listed $250,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.40pm Dubai Dash Listed $175,000 (T) 1,000m
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8.50pm Al Fahidi Fort Group Two $250,000 (T) 1,400m
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The National selections
6.30pm: Gifts Of Gold
7.05pm Final Song
7.40pm Equilateral
8.15pm Dark Of Night
8.50pm Mythical Magic
9.25pm Franz Kafka
RESULT
Huddersfield Town 2 Manchester United 1
Huddersfield: Mooy (28'), Depoitre (33')
Manchester United: Rashford (78')
Man of the Match: Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield Town)
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
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Film: Raid
Dir: Rajkumar Gupta
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Verdict: Three stars
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Match info:
Real Betis v Sevilla, 10.45pm (UAE)
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
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Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
The results of the first round are as follows:
Qais Saied (Independent): 18.4 per cent
Nabil Karoui (Qalb Tounes): 15.58 per cent
Abdelfattah Mourou (Ennahdha party): 12.88 per cent
Abdelkarim Zbidi (two-time defence minister backed by Nidaa Tounes party): 10.7 per cent
Youssef Chahed (former prime minister, leader of Long Live Tunisia): 7.3 per cent
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
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Primera Liga fixtures (all times UAE: 4 GMT)
Friday
Real Sociedad v Villarreal (10.15pm)
Real Betis v Celta Vigo (midnight)
Saturday
Alaves v Barcelona (8.15pm)
Levante v Deportivo La Coruna (10.15pm)
Girona v Malaga (10.15pm)
Las Palmas v Atletico Madrid (12.15am)
Sunday
Espanyol v Leganes (8.15pm)
Eibar v Athletic Bilbao (8.15pm)
Getafe v Sevilla (10.15pm)
Real Madrid v Valencia (10.15pm)
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PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
