Big relief came for Air India and Jet Airways crew after the Saudi Arabian government decided not to confiscate the passports of the Indian airline officials on arrival in the country and issue a bar-code instead.

As per media reports, the bar-code issued by Saudi Arabia to the crew members will have a limited validity.

Air India and Jet Airways are the two Indian airlines who fly to that country.

Indian authorities had taken up the issue with the Saudi authorities and the decision not to retain the passport of the crews of Indian airlines came into effect from mid-February this year, the Air Indian spokesperson said.

The development comes after Air India’s maiden flight to Israel landed in Tel Aviv, reducing the travel time substantially after Saudi Arabia for the first time allowed a commercial flight to use its airspace, indicating a thaw in relations between the Arab kingdom and the Jewish state.

Many Arab and Islamic nations do not recognise Israel and, therefore, disallow airlines from using their airspace for flight services to that country.

Saudi Arabia permitted the airline to use its airspace, enabling it to take a shorter route, covering the distance in 7.25 hours, about 2.10 hours less as compared to the only other airline that flies between the two countries — Israel’s national carrier El Al.

Certificate issued after depositing passport

Earlier, the passports of Indian crew members arriving in Saudi Arabia were required to be deposited at the immigration office at Jeddah and in return, a certificate is issued to the crew members. The passports are given back on return.

In July 2017, four crew members of Air India, who were out for a dinner after their flight from Mumbai, were detained by the Saudi Arabian Police in Jeddah when they were not able to furnish the original passport.

When the airline staff failed to provide the original documents, they were put in a police van and their phones confiscated.

Usually, airline staff deposit their certificates at their hotel and keep a photocopy with themselves. Thus, the staffers only have photocopies of their travel documents during their stay in the country.

After the matter was resolved, it was decided that the airline staffers will be issued a special Air India identity card.

(With agency inputs)