A new survey revealed that more than eight of 10 people in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are buying one-way tickets due to uncertainty surrounding their travel plans amid the global pandemic.
Citing a Khaleej Times report, Amit Taneja, chief commercial officer of Cleartrip, said 81 percent of people purchased one-way tickets between September 2020 to January 2021 as compared to 63 percent during the same period last year.
“People are not certain that they will come back in time. People are going to emergencies but they are not sure how many days they require in their home countries. Also, they think they could get Covid-19 positive, hence, they will have to extend the leave. All these reasons are prompting UAE and Saudi expats to buy one-way tickets,” Amit said.
Meanwhile, the survey also revealed that 19 percent of UAE residents purchased return air tickets during September 2020 to January 2021 period as compared to 37 percent during this period last year.
The respondents of the survey included 5,678 people, of which 42 percent were Indians, 22 percent were Filipinos, and nine percent were Pakistanis and other nationalities.
