Coronavirus lockdown: GoI to operate 64 flights to bring home Indian nationals stranded abroad

The Central government is all set to operate 64 flights from May 7 to 13 to bring home around 14,800 Indian nationals stranded abroad due to the coronavirus lockdown, said Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. He said that "64 flights will be operated in the 1st week of operation to bring stranded Indians from different countries from May 7 to May 13." The 64 flights include – UAE- 10 flights, Qatar- 2, Saudi Arabia- 5, UK- 7, Singapore- 5, United States-7, Philippines- 5, Bangladesh- 7, Bahrain - 2, Malaysia-7, Kuwait-5, and Oman-2, he added. India is currently under lockdown since March 25 to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. It will continue till May 17. Meanwhile, all the commercial passenger flights have been suspended for this period. Therefore, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced that it will facilitate the return of asymptomatic Indian nationals stranded abroad from May 7 onwards, in a phased manner, through aircraft and naval ships on a payment basis. India will arrange 10 flights to the UAE, seven flights each to the US and the UK, five to Saudi Arabia, five to Singapore and two flights to Qatar between May 7 and 13, a report suggested. Also Read | Lockdown 3.0: Punjab Government imposes additional restrictions; here’s a list of permitted activities Reportedly, out of the 64 repatriation flights, 15 would be from Kerala, 11 would be from Delhi and Tamil Nadu each, seven would be from Maharashtra and Telangana each, and remaining flights would be from five other states, the officials said. -PTC News