Manama: The repatriation of stranded Indians in the Gulf due to coronavirus crisis will start on Thursday. The first two Air India Express flights from the UAE will take off from Dubai to Kozhikode and Abu Dhabi to Kochi on Thursday.
Earlier, four flights were scheduled for Thursday, but the Civil Aviation Ministry of India cancelled flights from Riyadh and Doha in the last moment. Air Indian flight from Saudi will take off from Riyadh to Kozhikode on Friday and Air India Express from Doha to Kochi on Saturday, sources said.
According to the first week’s air repatriation schedule, around 1,900 people are slated to be taken back to India from the UAE. The passenger lists for the first two flights for Thursday have been finalised by the Indian Embassy and Consulate in the UAE. This was handed over to Air India Express on Wednesday for issuing tickets. Most of the tickets were sold according to the embassy priority list, Air India Express said.
All leaving passengers will have to undergo medical screening and IGM/IGG tests at the airport and only those cleared by the UAE health authorities and found to be asymptomatic will be allowed to board the plane, the Indian Embassy said in statement.
All passengers will be handed a safety kit containing two face masks, two pairs of gloves and hand sanitisers at the time of boarding. While inside the flight, the health protocol of the Ministry of Civil Aviation of India, including wearing of masks, keeping environmental hygiene, respiratory hygiene and hand hygiene, to be strictly followed.
On arrival at the destination airport, thermal screening, as per health protocol, would be carried out in respect of all the passengers by the health officials present at the airport, the embassy statement added.
The repatriation flight Air India Express IX0344 will leave from Dubai International (Terminal 2) to Kozhikode at 5.10pm tomorrow, instead of 2.10pm, Indian Consulate in Dubai said.
The repatriation from the Gulf is according to the priority list prepared by the Indian missions on the basis of registration. Air India and its budget carrier Air India Express will operate the repatriation flights from the Gulf sector. There will be no social distancing on board the repatriation flights, but Air India Express will leave last three rows for quarantine purposes. Any one need medical emergency during the travel will immediately shifted to this area, airline sources said.
Blue-collar workers who lost their jobs, pregnant ladies, people who need medical attention in home country were given priority in the repatriation. Relatives are not allowed to accompany pregnant women or the sick except in special circumstances.
Almost 197,000 Indians have registered to be repatriated from the UAE alone. Around 40,000 Indians from Qatar registered for repatriation, while more than 13,000 people registered in the Indian Embassy Bahrain. The first Air India Express flight from Bahrain will take off to Kochi on Friday at 4.30 pm. Air India Express employees started issuing tickets at the embassy counter. Tickets cost is 84 Dinars (Rs 16,758) to Kochi and 79 Dinars (Rs 15,760) to Kozhikode.
Around 60,000 people were registered at the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia. Tickets cost will be up to 1,500 riyals per sector, embassy said.
The first flight from Kuwait will leave on Saturday to Kochi. The ticket rate is Rs. 19,000 and it is the highest in the gulf
