Stranded foreign nationals fly back home in 30 rescue flights

23/04/2020, SUNITHA SEKAR,CHENNAI

Homeward bound: A special flight carrying stranded passengers. B. Velankanni Raj B. Velankanni Raj

Since the lockdown, hundreds of foreign nationals, who were stranded in the city, have left in 30 rescue flights from various countries over the past month.

According to Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials, the rescue flights flew to destinations like Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Bangladesh, USA, UK and Malaysia in the past few weeks carrying their nationals stranded in the city.

Some of the flights picked up passengers from Chennai then head to Mumbai or Hyderabad or Bangalore, take more foreign nationals stranded there and head to their respective country, the officials said.

For instance, a flight to Atlanta in USA from Chennai had a stopover at Mumbai, took in some more passengers and departed, officials said. Many flights also land here for refueling of their flights, they added.

“Almost everyday, sa pecial rescue flight departs from the city. Before each such flight, the international terminal is fumigated thoroughly. All the areas are deep cleaned so that passengers are not at risk. Also, all passengers are subjected to temperature checks before they board the aircraft. There is always someone monitoring the activities during such times in the terminal,” an official said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Indians, who have been stranded in various parts of world like Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and Australia, have been waiting to return. Many have constantly requested the government and posted tweets asking them to make arrangements to help them get back home, officials said.