NEW DELHI :
National carrier Air India Ltd will operate 64 flights from 7 May to 13
May to bring back citizens stranded abroad, civil aviation minister
Hardeep Puri said on Tuesday. However, passengers will have to pay for
the journey, he said.
As many as 15,000 Indians are expected to be brought back on these
flights from as many as 12 countries, including the UK, the US and the
United Arab Emirates, said the minister. These would include 10 flights
from the UAE; seven each from the UK, the US, Bangladesh and Malaysia;
five each from Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the Philippines and Kuwait; and
two each from Qatar, Bahrain and Oman, Puri said. India is also pressing
into service military transport planes and naval ships to bring back
citizens stranded in other countries in the biggest such exercise a
country has undertaken during peacetime. On Tuesday, India dispatched
three naval ships to the Maldives and the UAE, the ministry of external
affairs said.
Those being brought back on Air India planes will have to pay as much as ₹100,000 if they are coming from the US, about ₹20,000 for those coming from Singapore, and about ₹12,000
for people from Bangladesh. Bringing back Indians stranded abroad is
equivalent to conducting commercial services under special circumstances
and the government is constrained to charge them because of the large
number of people who are to be brought back, Puri said. “The charge
levied is way below what it will cost the airline to conduct the
operation as the aircraft will have to travel one way without any
passenger," he said.
“All passengers will be screened on arrival and will be subjected to a
14-day quarantine. This will be made known prior to the facility being
offered," the minister said.
200,000 people have expressed interest in being brought back and the
number may go up, Puri said. “As we go along, the possibility of private
airlines joining the exercise will be considered," he said.
Indians who want to come home can also seek government approval to
fly on charter flights and business jets in the coming days, Puri said.
However, the government is yet to take a decision on resumption of
normal air travel operations, which is suspended till 17 May.
“Commercial operations can resume only when the origin and destination
are green. It will require meticulous planning," said the aviation
minister.
“Opening up of civil aviation has to be done in a graded and
calibrated manner," Puri said. Flight operations may begin with only a
fourth of the existing capacity. There will be safeguards when the
sector is opened up, but these cannot be so severe that it kills
economic activity, he said.
“I don’t know if it is viable to operate a flight while keeping
one-third of aircraft empty," Puri said, adding that the ministry will
address such issues.
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