Tag: repatriation flights updates

Dubai-based carrier Emirates has scheduled several repatriation flights to assist stranded Indians in the UAE after receiving the green light from the civil aviation authorities in India and the UAE. Repatriation flights to five Indian cities – Bengaluru, Delhi, Kochi, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram – are on track from July 12 to 26. The flights to Bengaluru and Mumbai are subject to state government approval. Frequency of flights between July 12 and 26 Bengaluru: Two daily flights Delhi: Two daily flights Kochi: Two daily flights Mumbai: Three daily flights Thiruvananthapuram: One daily flight Flights from India to Dubai These repatriation flights ... Read more

India’s national carrier Air India has started ticket bookings for five new flights from Dubai and Sharjah, scheduled to operate between July 11-14. The first of these flights, under the Vande Bharat Mission, will leave for Delhi from Dubai at 4 pm on Saturday. The rest of the flights will be from Sharjah. On Sunday, there will be two flights. Flight AI0904 will depart for Indore at 10.25am and AI1976 to Srinagar will depart at 11.40am. On July 13, there will be a flight to Chandigarh at 10.25am, followed by one to Ahmedabad on July 14. Announcing the schedule on ... Read more

Air India and Air India Express have confirmed that it will operate repatriation flights to the UAE to fetch stranded citizens from the country. The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said that the repatriation flights will commence from July 12 and will go on till July 26. An agreement for the same has been signed between the civil aviation authorities of the two countries, putting an end to the long traumatic wait for hundreds of Indians, Khaleej Times has reported. Many are currently stranded in India since March when both the UAE and India closed their airspaces to curb the ... Read more

Air India Express, a subsidiary of Air India, has announced nine new flights connecting various south Indian cities from July 9-14. The move follows the UAE government’s objection to Vande Bharat Mission flights operated by Air India. Air India Express will operate these flights as part of the repatriation mission from Sharjah, according to the Indian Consulate in Dubai.  The flights will connect Madurai, Coimbatore, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirappalli, Kochi and Hyderabad. Indian nationals registered with the Embassy of India, Abu Dhabi or the Consulate-General of India in Dubai and fulfilling the required entry conditions can book through the Air India Express ... Read more

UAE-based Indian welfare groups are anxious about the fate of future repatriation flights from the country after two chartered flights to India could not take off on Saturday in the absence of approvals from authorities in India, according to a Khaleej Times report. The Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC), a welfare organisation, said the Etihad Airways EY254 flight that it had chartered from Abu Dhabi to Kozhikode on Saturday had to be cancelled ‘at the last moment’ because the Directorate of General Civil Aviation (DGCA) did not send the permissions necessary for it to land in India. As per the ... Read more

Kerala on Thursday demanded more flights to be operated from Saudi Arabia as part of the Vande Bharat Mission. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that of the 270 flights operated as part of the mission, only 20 were from Saudi. On Thursday, leaders of the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre met the chief minister, demanding operation of more flights from Saudi Arabia. Of the 87,391 Keralites who registered to return to Kerala from Saudi, only 13,535 could return so far. Pinarayi pointed out that a majority of those who wish to return from ... Read more

India will begin phase-4 of its repatriation mission this Friday, with over 912 flights scheduled over six weeks. Private airlines will play a major role, with IndiGo operating 457 flights and GoAir chipping in with 41 flights. This phase is the biggest so far, but will focus on fewer countries, with flights from only 17 nations. In this phase, Air India will focus almost exclusively on long-haul destinations, leaving shorter routes to Air India Express and private carriers. Long-haul destinations include flights to Australia, the UK, the US, Ukraine, Canada, and Kenya. These flights will operate between July 3 and ... Read more

Air India has announced eight evacuation flights between India and Australia under the Vande Bharat Mission. The flights will be operated from July 1 to July 14. Bookings will begin on June 28 from 12 PM — only on the Air India website. The national carrier will operate four flights each to Melbourne and Sydney. Since May, Air India has carried out repatriation flights under the Vande Bharat Mission. Recently,  the US, France and the UAE governments raised objections to these flights saying that India was not allowing these countries to carry out their own repatriation flights. While India was ... Read more

Eighteen international repatriation flights are expected to bring 3,630 expatriates to the Kochi airport today. Air India will operate a flight from Paris via Delhi and Azur Air is scheduled to operate a direct flight from Kiev in Ukraine. Repatriation flights from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Kuwait, Doha, Muscat, Paris and Ukraine are also scheduled to arrive on Saturday. On Friday, 21 flights brought 3,960 passengers at the airport. Rapid antibody tests were conducted on 85 passengers who arrived till 6pm. Meanwhile IndiGo airlines cancelled its Riyadh flight while SpiceJet rescheduled its Ras Al Khaimah flight to Saturday. The ... Read more

Two more repatriation flights to Goa will leave from Dubai on June 21 and 25 respectively, Air India has announced. Special flights that will depart Dubai at 12 noon will arrive at the Dabolim airport in Goa at 4.40pm. The flights are being operated as part of the Vande Bharat Mission to repatriate stranded Indians from the UAE, said a spokesperson of Air India. Both flights will be ferrying 149 passengers each and priority will be given to those registered for repatriation with the Indian missions in the UAE, said Gulf News in a report. The first direct repatriation flight to Goa ... Read more

Medical testimonials are going to be a must to fly to Kerala from June 20. All passengers have to carry certificates stating that they are Covid-19 free, for the flights to get operational clearance. The policy applies to government sponsored Vande Bharat Mission and chartered flights equally, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said at a news briefing on Wednesday. Significantly, the chief minister said the state would have no issues in providing no-objection certificates to special flights comprising wholly of passengers who had tested positive at the port of departure. Kerala would receive them and treat them in State-run or commandeered ... Read more

A total of 168 Indian nationals are returning from Maldives today via an Air India flight. The flight will land in two cities – Thiruvananthapuram and Bengaluru. Passengers had started gathering at Male airport since morning and thanked Indian government for its efforts to evacuate the Indian nationals, All India Radio (AIR) said in a report. Another two flights are scheduled in the next two days for Delhi, Kolkata and Bhubaneswar. The repatriation is being carried out in coordination with the Indian High Commission in Male. With this evacuation, over three and half thousand people would be brought back from Maldives ... Read more

The Bombay High Court has allowed domestic and international airlines to fill up middle seats, providing some relief to the carriers. The high court, however, sought strict compliance with the May 31 circular of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) requiring passengers to wear wrap-around gowns in addition to a face shield and a mask. A division bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and S P Tavade on Monday passed the judgment through video-conference on a plea filed by Air India pilot Deven Kanani, who alleged that national carrier Air India had violated social distancing norms while evacuating Indians ... Read more

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written to prime minister Narendra Modi to consider arranging flights, exclusively for bringing COVID-19 infected Malayali patients from other countries. The move comes amid the controversy over the state government’s decision to make COVID-19 negative certificates mandatory for all expatriates coming from the Gulf countries on chartered flights. In the letter, Pinarayi Vijayan said the central government could ensure the availability of test kits in countries having large Indian diaspora. The embassies should be entrusted with the responsibility of holding tests for those unable to undergo tests at their own expense, he said. “If ... Read more

A passenger on board Air India’s AI 906 from Lagos to Mumbai died on Sunday, despite airline officials trying hard to revive him. The 42-year-old passenger Manesh Patel, informed the crew that he was showing Malaria like symptoms. The passenger was declared dead by an onboard doctor. Later, the doctors of airport operator, Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) attended him after the flight landed at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. After completing all the standard operating procedures, the body was sent to Vile Parle based Cooper hospital. An airline official said that the passenger was unwell and was seen ... Read more