These special flights would be operated by Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express
The Central government is likely to operate 64 flights from May 7 to 13 to bring home around 14,800 Indian nationals stranded abroad because of the coronavirus lockdown, said senior government officials on Tuesday.
These special flights would be operated by Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express to repatriate Indians from 12 countries —the UAE, the UK, the US, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman, said the officials.
India has been under a lockdown since March 25 to curb the spread of the coronavirus and it will continue till May 17. All commercial passenger flights have been suspended for this period.
Therefore, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced on Monday 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.
Between May 7 and 13, India is likely to conduct 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, the officials told PTI.
It is also likely to conduct seven flights each to Malaysia and Bangladesh, five each to Kuwait and Philippines, two each to Oman and Bahrain, the officials noted.
Out of the 64 repatriation flights, 15 would be from Kerala, 11 each would be from Delhi and Tamil Nadu, seven each would be from Maharashtra and Telangana, and remaining flights would be from five other states, the officials said.
“Approximately 14,800 Indian nationals are likely to return to the country through these 64 flights during the seven-day period. The government will run more repatriation flights after May 13,” one of the officials said.
The Minister also shared air fares to be paid by those seeking to return. A flight from London to Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and New Delhi will cost ₹50,000 (per passenger). Flights from Chicago, San Francisco, Newark and Washington will cost nearly ₹1,00,000; a flight from Dubai will cost ₹13,000 and from Abu Dhabi ₹15,000. Flights from Singapore and Malaysia will cost ₹20,000.
Passengers will also have to pay for their quarantine facilities, but a final decision will be taken by the State governments.
To a question on why were passengers being charged exorbitant airfares on par with commercial rates?
The Minister said, “this is a commercial service. We will not be offering subsidised fares. As it is Air India is surviving on a government subsidy of ₹500 crore to ₹600 crore per month and most private airlines are hand to mouth and are loss making.” He explained that air tickets also factored the cost of a two-way journey as many aircraft will fly from India empty.
“This exercise is for those who find themselves distressed and are stranded because either their visas have expired or either they are being deported or either they went to these countries for work and wanted to come back,” the Minister said.