The first Air India Express flight carrying Indian citizens from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) landed at the airport in Kozhikode on Thursday night as India launched its biggest repatriation exercise to bring back its nationals stranded abroad amid the international travel lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic.
The Air India Express flight IX 452, with 177 passengers and four infants, landed at the Cochin International Airport (CIAL) at 10.09 pm, said an airline spokesperson.
Another Air India Express flight IX 344, with 177 passengers and five infants from Dubai, landed shortly afterward at the Kozhikode International Airport at 10.45 pm.
In all, a total of 363 nationals were evacuated -- they will now be sent to the Institutional Quarantine facilities set up by the administration in their respective districts, said Kerala government officials.
The massive repatriation exercise is named 'Vande Bharat Mission'.
Meanwhile, Air India on Thursday also operated its first evacuation flight from New Delhi to Singapore. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft left the Indira Gandhi International Airport at around 11.30 pm and is expected to return at 11.30 am on Friday. According to schedule, the flight ferried 14 passengers to Singapore.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has installed an ultraviolet disinfection chamber at the Cochin airport, which will be used to disinfect the baggage. The chamber has been developed by a laboratory in Cochin.
Pregnant women, people needing immediate treatment, those returning to attend ceremonies connected to the death of a close relative, aged people needing continuous assistance, and children under 10 years will be permitted to go to their houses where they will be under strict home quarantine (self-isolation) for 14 days, officials said.
All passengers were asked to download the Aarogya Setu app on their mobile devices and submit forms of undertaking, as directed by the government of India, on their arrival at the airport, they said.
Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses were kept ready to transport the evacuated expatriates. Taxis were arranged for those who needed cars.
The pilots and cabin crew were in PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) suit on the flights.
"Proud and privileged to carry out the first medical mission titled 'Vande Matram'," said the pilot of the Kochi-bound flight.
Two masks, sanitiser, a snacks box with two cheese sandwiches and a slice of fruit cake, and water were provided to the passengers.
Meanwhile, the state government partially modified its order on quarantine and said that all incoming passengers who have not undergone testing at the point of departure will be put in Institutional Quarantine (IQ) for 14 days by the district administration. Those passengers tested and found COVID-19 negative will be put in IQ for seven days.
If they do not develop symptoms after a week, they would be put in home quarantine for the next seven days, said the order issued by Chief Secretary Tom Jose.
The Centre had insisted that all passengers coming to India should undergo a 14-day Institutional Quarantine.
Athira Geetha Sreedharan, 27, from Dubai, who is expecting her first baby in July and had filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking help to return for her delivery, was among those who boarded the Dubai-Kozhikode flight.
"I am very happy that I have got a ticket to travel in the first flight itself and I thank everyone," said Sreedharan who stays in Dubai with her husband Nithin Chandran.
India has been under lockdown since March 25 to curb the coronavirus pandemic. All domestic and international commercial passenger flights have been suspended during the three-phase lockdown which began on March 25 and will continue till May 17.
In relief to Kerala, no new positive cases were reported for the second consecutive day on Thursday, while 474
people have been cured and only 25 active cases remain.
The state, which has done well in containing the spread of the contagion, is hoping there will not be any spike in numbers once NRKs (non-resident Keralites) return from abroad.
(With inputs from PTI)
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