Plane shortage keeps Indians abroad stranded

Plane shortage keeps Indians abroad stranded

V.Ayyappan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:11.06.2020

Evacuation of stranded Indians in the US, Canada and Europe has been slow, as only one Indian carrier, Air India, has the long range planes needed.

Most flights are scheduled from Chicago, San Francisco and Toronto but they are not enough as too many Indians, several of them hailing from Chennai, are waiting to return home as early as possible.

As the demand is high for urgent travel and as announcement of US schedules in phases is not adequate, travel and tour companies have tied up with foreign airlines and have approached the DGCA for permission to operate services.

The move comes as some foreign carriers from Europe and the US are flying to India to take back their citizens. “These aircraft fly empty to Delhi and Mumbai. The government is yet to allow them to bring Indians stranded aboard,” said an official of the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

“The ministry has relaxed its rules and has started to allow foreign airlines, especially those in the Middle East, to fly in Indian passengers. FlyDubai operated a few flights to Chennai. But there is no move yet to allow it from the US and Europe,” said an official.

Nishant Pitti, founder and CEO of EaseMyTrip.com, said, “We are planning to tieup with a few airlines to repatriate the thousands of Indians stranded in the US, Canada and Europe. We will speak to the airlines when we get approval from the ministry of civil aviation. A dialogue has been initiated.”

Air India flights have been scheduled based on the number of people who are ready to fly based on registrations. However, too many flights cannot be operated by the airline because fleet limitation and international and domestic connections too need to be taken into consideration, said an airline official.

Crew rostering and moving them between airports within the country is a challenge. Nevertheless, Air India has included 18 flights from Chicago, 18 from San Francisco and 19 from Toronto in its schedule from Delhi.

This has come as a blessing for the 500 NRIs stranded in the city as several have got tickets. Gowtham, an NRI from Seattle stranded in Chennai, said, “I managed to get a ticket to fly to San Francisco via Delhi. But demand is too high for flights both ways. There is a Facebook group with 15,000 members, all who want to come to India.”

I managed to get a ticket to fly to San Francisco via Delhi. But demand is too high for flights both ways. There is a Facebook group with 15,000 members, all who want to come to India

GOWTHAM | NRI from Seattle