Mumbai: Three hundred and 29 Indians who were stranded in the United Kingdom due to travel restrictions arrived Sunday morning. They were brought back here by an Air India flight.
Travel details
The special evacuation flight AI 130 departed Saturday from London with the stranded Indians. It landed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) here at around 1.30 am.
More evacuation flights
The flight is one of the 64 flights that are being operated by Air India and Air India Express as part of ‘Vande Bharat Mission’. The effort is to bring back Indians stranded in different countries in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Two more flights, one each from Singapore and Manila (Philippines) also arrived here Sunday, said a Civil Aviation Ministry spokesperson. The flight from Singapore had 243 passengers while the flight from Manila will bring back 241 Indians, the spokesperson said.
Passenger reactions
“1st flight 2 #Mumbai landed- crew interaction less with the passengers. Protective kit was given 2 all-along with snack n meal kept on the seat beforehand. Next #quarantine. Watch the space,” tweeted a passenger who was onboard the London-Mumbai flight.
“Reached Mumbai safely from UK. Thank you so much to @airindia in @HCI_London, @NISAU_UK, @MEAIndia,” another passenger said.
Restrictions in place
The Mumbai airport authorities had said Saturday that arriving passengers with symptoms will be moved to isolation centres.
Asymptomatic passengers residing in Mumbai will be moved to quarantine facilities like hotels. Those from outside of the city will be transported by the state to their respective district headquarters, authorities said.
More such flights are on the anvil also, said the spokesperson. He informed that a couple of more flights would be bringing people back from the United Kingdom.
PTI