Students stuck in China find it tough to fly back; airfares shoot up
Ayyappan V@timesgroup.com
Ayyappan V@timesgroup.com
31.01.2020
With airfares hitting the roof and airlines limiting services, many Indians stranded in Shanghai, Guangzhou and other Chinese provinces are finding getting back home an arduous task.
People are flying out of Shanghai via Singapore or Bangkok to reach Chennai. Chinese companies in cities other than Wuhan are advising their Indian employees to leave till the situation returns to normalcy.
An airport official said people are returning via transit airports in southeast Asia as Cathay Pacific has limited flights to mainland China. Basheer Ahamed, of Metro Travels, said people are coming back before the situation worsens in other cities. A one-way fare on the Hong Kong-Chennai flight costs ₹40,000 for the next few days. The fare is in the range of ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 on flights via Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Thailand. Many are also flying in via Delhi as SpiceJet has a regular flight from Hong Kong.
Sampath Rangachary, a retired Air Force officer, said his relative was stranded in Guangzhou. “They are trying to fly to Chennai via Bangkok. There is news that airlines are considering to limit or suspend operations to Chinese cities after British Airways cancelled all its flights,” he said.
IndiGo has suspended its flights from Delhi to Chengdu and from Bengaluru to Hong Kong till February 20 as a temporary measure.
An airport official at Chennai said they screen passengers arriving from Hong Kong and those with travel history to high risk zones in China. “Healthy passengers arriving from Shanghai via Singapore are asking for screening even if they do not have symptoms,” he added.
A professor from India said that around 100 students from Tamil Nadu are in Wuhan and a majority of them are medical students. Aadil Anwar Bhat, an Indian student in Jiangx province, near Wuhan, said “Wuhan is under a complete lockdown. But people are travelling back from other cities.”
With airfares hitting the roof and airlines limiting services, many Indians stranded in Shanghai, Guangzhou and other Chinese provinces are finding getting back home an arduous task.
People are flying out of Shanghai via Singapore or Bangkok to reach Chennai. Chinese companies in cities other than Wuhan are advising their Indian employees to leave till the situation returns to normalcy.
An airport official said people are returning via transit airports in southeast Asia as Cathay Pacific has limited flights to mainland China. Basheer Ahamed, of Metro Travels, said people are coming back before the situation worsens in other cities. A one-way fare on the Hong Kong-Chennai flight costs ₹40,000 for the next few days. The fare is in the range of ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 on flights via Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Thailand. Many are also flying in via Delhi as SpiceJet has a regular flight from Hong Kong.
Sampath Rangachary, a retired Air Force officer, said his relative was stranded in Guangzhou. “They are trying to fly to Chennai via Bangkok. There is news that airlines are considering to limit or suspend operations to Chinese cities after British Airways cancelled all its flights,” he said.
IndiGo has suspended its flights from Delhi to Chengdu and from Bengaluru to Hong Kong till February 20 as a temporary measure.
An airport official at Chennai said they screen passengers arriving from Hong Kong and those with travel history to high risk zones in China. “Healthy passengers arriving from Shanghai via Singapore are asking for screening even if they do not have symptoms,” he added.
A professor from India said that around 100 students from Tamil Nadu are in Wuhan and a majority of them are medical students. Aadil Anwar Bhat, an Indian student in Jiangx province, near Wuhan, said “Wuhan is under a complete lockdown. But people are travelling back from other cities.”
No comments:
Post a Comment