New Delhi: As many as 64 flights will bring back over 15,000 Indians who have been stranded abroad due to COVID-19, in one of the biggest repatriation exercises ever done that will begin from Thursday in a phased manner.
According to the government plan, accessed by ETV Bharat, the first day will see 10 flights and it is expected to bring back nearly 2,300 citizens from UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UK, Singapore, Malaysia, the US, Philippines and Bangladesh.
These special flights would be operated by Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express to repatriate Indians from 12 countries including Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman.
On May 7, India will operate two special flights from UAE, the first flight will operate from Abu Dhabi to Kochi and the second will fly from Dubai to Kozhikode. At least 150,000 Indians have registered to return with the Indian missions in the UAE alone.
The next two days will see nine flights and a total of 2,050 stranded Indians are expected to be brought back on each day from the US, the UK, UAE, Malaysia, Kuwait, Singapore, and Bahrain. Similarly, day four will see nine flights and it will bring back 2,200 people.
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According to the plan, India will operate 15 flights from overseas to Kerala, 11 to Tamil Nadu, seven to Maharashtra, 11 to Delhi, seven to Telangana, five to Gujarat, three each to Karnataka and Jammu and Kashmir, and one each to Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that stranded Indians coming back from Chicago, the US to Delhi, Hyderabad will have to shell out Rs 1 lakh while those who travelling from London to Mumbai will be charged Rs 50,000. Similarly, those who wish to board a flight from Dhaka to Delhi will need to shell out about Rs 12,000.
"In the first week of the evacuation process, Air India will conduct special flights to evacuate stranded Indians. The private airlines can also contribute in the next leg of special flights," Hardeep Singh Puri said.
State-wise break up numbers of passengers to be brought back in the first phase
3,150 passengers to Kerala
2,150 passengers to Tamil Nadu
1,900 passengers to Maharashtra
200 passengers to Punjab
600 passengers to Jammu and Kashmir
650 passengers to Karnataka
200 passengers to Uttar Pradesh
The medical screening of passengers would be done before taking the flight and only asymptomatic passengers would be allowed to travel.
Those coming back to India would have to register on the Arogya Setu app. Apart from sharing their personal details, the passengers will have to declare if they have any COVID-19 symptoms. After scrutiny, they will be quarantined for 14 days, either in a hospital or in an institutional quarantine on payment-basis, by the concerned state government.
India had suspended all commercial and international flights into the country from 22 March and told Indians abroad to stay put as the country went into COVID-19 induced lockdown.
