India is preparing for one of the biggest evacuation operations in the history. In the first phase, India will repatriate 14 800 Indians stranded in 12 countries. The special flights will start shuttling from Thursday. It will operated by Air India and Air India Express, under strict adherence of Covid-19 contain protocols. Indian Navy is also joining with the evacuation operations.
The Mission is titled ‘Vande Bharat.’ Air India Group will operate 64 flights to 12 countries to bring back 14,800 stranded people in 7 days from May 7. Air India will operate seven flights from London. The first will leave London Heathrow on 8th at 12 noon to Mumbai. Other flights are on 9th May at 9.45 am to Bengaluru; 10th May at 0945 to Hyderabad; 11th May 13.15 pm to Mumbai; 12th May 9.45 am to Ahmedabad; 13th May 13.15 pm to Chennai and 14th May 14 pm to Delhi. The first class fare is £3339, business class £1493 and economy £539.00.
“Medical screening of passengers would be done before taking the flight. Only asymptomatic passengers would be allowed in,” the Indian High Commission in London said in a statement.
In terms of operational aspects, Air India will operate 40 flights, while Air India Express will fly 24 services to countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Bangladesh, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the US, and the UK.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said non-resident Keralites returning from abroad and from within the country from Thursday, except pregnant women and children, will remain in state-run quarantine centres for a week.
Such arrivals are scheduled at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode. The Kannur airport is not on the list, but would be added in the second schedule. The arrivals at these airports would be supervised by a DIG of Police.
“The exception from quarantine is only for pregnant ladies and kids, who can remain in isolation at their homes. This is the rule for all those arriving from outside the country and those from within the country,” said Vijayan.
“There are two flights on May 7 as of now — one from Abu Dhabi to Kochi and another from Dubai to Kozhikode. We are waiting for further instructions from the Centre. After quarantine, those who test negative can go home and remain in quarantine for another week” said Vijayan.
The Chief Miniser said that all arrangements have been made.
“The media also should take necessary caution. Attempts to interview those who are coming from abroad should not be done. Media has to ensure that social distancing norms are followed. You should ensure that there is self-control,” added Vijayan.
State Health Minister K.K. Shailaja said: At present, 207 hospitals in the state have been kept ready to admit people showing coronavirus symptoms. Everyone landing at the airports will have to download an app. The body temperatures of all returnees would be taken at the aerobridge. All those who are normal will be send to the help desk while those who have higher-than-normal temperature would be moved to the isolation bay. From there, normal returnees would be taken to the corona care centres and others send to hospital.”
The Karnataka government is bracing to bail out hundreds of Kannadigas living abroad but who now want to return to their home state, as they are in distress due to the coronavirus pandemic fallout, a state minister said.
“Hundreds of overseas or non-resident Kannadigas (NRKs) reached out to us through voice and video calls, emails, relatives and friends, expressing readiness to return to their home state, as the situation in the countries they are working in is grim after the Covid-19 outbreak,” Minister for Tourism, Kannada and Culture C.T. Ravi said.
The ‘SOS’ calls from NRKs in the US, Europe, Africa, Gulf region and Australia during the last couple of weeks have made the state government to set up a special cell in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) to facilitate their return at the earliest.
Lately, despite its precarious financial position, the national passenger carrier has emerged as one of the few airlines in the world that have evacuated more than 9,000 passengers during the Covid-19 crisis.
The airline till date has carried out massive flight operations to China, Japan and Europe to bring back stranded Indians, mostly students and pilgrims. Additionally, the airline has been instrumental in repatriating foreigners to Israel, UK and Germany. Moreover, Air India and its subsidiary Alliance Air has reached every corner of the country to supply essential medical equipment.