Air India Express flights land in Kerala with 363 stranded Indians from UAE

An Air Indian repatriation flight from Dubai with 363 Indian nationals onboard landed in Kozhikode, Kerala on Thursday. The flight took off from Dubai International Airport evacuating Indians stranded in the city due to coronavirus lockdown.

Kozhikode: With no dear and near ones waiting at the airport, Keralites from UAE arrived in Kerala on Thursday night.

Launching its biggest ever repatriation exercise, India on Thursday airlifted 363 of its citizens, including nine infants, stranded in the United Arab Emirates due to the international travel lockdown over the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the first Air India Express flight carrying 177 passengers and four infants from Abu Dhabi landed at Kochi at 10.09 pm, the second flight from Dubai carrying the same number of passengers and five infants landed at Kozhikode a few minutes later at 10.32 pm.

The massive repatriation exercise is named 'Vande Bharat Mission.'

As many as 189 expats from Dubai airport arrived at Karipur at 10.30 pm. 74 are from Kozhikode with 52 males and 22 females. They had undergone COVID-19 rapid test in order to confirm they are not infected with the coronavirus.

Kerala government had made extensive arrangements to welcome the evacuated citizens at the airport. They were undergone strict health checkups and were taken to the Institutional Quarantine facilities set up by the district administrations in their respective districts in KSRTC buses. Also, thermal scanning and rapid tests were conducted.

Pregnant women, people needing immediate treatment, those returning to attend ceremonies connected to the death of a close relative, aged people needing continuous assistance and children under 10 years were permitted to go to their houses, where they will be under strict home quarantine (self-isolation) for 14 days.

The pilots and cabin crew were in PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) suit on the flights which carried the evacuated citizens.

Meanwhile, the state government partially modified its order on quarantine and stated that all incoming passengers who have not undergone testing at the point of departure, will be put in Institutional Quarantine (IQ) for 14 days by the district administration.

Those passengers tested and found COVID-19 negative will be put in IQ for seven days.

If they do not develop symptoms after seven days, they would be put in home quarantine for the next seven days, the order issued by Chief Secretary, Tom Jose said.