1,550 Israelis evacuated over a week from India amid lockdown

Bengaluru: Around 1,550 Israelis left stranded in India due to 21-day nationwide lockdown since March 24 midnight have flown back home over the week in seven flights, a diplomat said on Wednesday.

"We have flown about 1,550 Israelis home (Tel Aviv) in seven rescue flights from New Delhi, Mumbai and Goa (Panjim), Isareli consulate deputy consul-general Ariel Seidman told IANS here.

The Israelis, including tourists, flew in two Israeli airlines El Al and Arkia and state-run Air India.

In the last rescue flight from Dabolim airport in Panjim on Monday night, 105 Israelis, including 95 stuck in north India, and 10 from Karnataka, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu flew in the chartered plane to Tel Aviv.

"The last batch of 105 Israelis boarded an Arkia chartered plane on way to Tel Aviv from Bangkok with 65 Israelis who were also stranded in Thailand," recalled Seidman.

All the Israelis who flew from India paid for their airfare.

"The 10 Israelis drove to Panjim in cars on Monday after staying overnight in Bengaluru," said the diplomat.

Of the 10 from south India, a couple of them are in their mid-40s and one aged above 70.
12/03/20 IANS/Outlook

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US starts airlift of citizens from B'desh; coordinating with India

New York: The US government has begun airlifting its citizens stuck Bangladesh because of coronavirus pandemic and is coordinating with India to arrange flights from there for its nationals, according to a State Department official.

The official dealing with consular affairs, Ian Brownlee said on Monday, "We had our first flight - repatriation flight - out of Bangladesh today and are coordinating with the Indian Government to begin flights (from) there."

Brownlee had said last week that about 1,500 Americans in the New Delhi area, between 600 and 700 in the Mumbai area and 300 to 400 elsewhere had expressed interest in returning home.

Last week the State Department issued a "Level 4" travel alert advising its citizens not to travel internationally and asking those abroad to return home.
31/03/20 Arul Louis/daijiworld

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39 German nationals stranded in Hyderabad evacuated by special Air India flight

A group of 39 German nationals stranded in Hyderabad were evacuated by a special relief flight operated by Air India from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

The group of Germans comprising 19 females, 17 males and two infants reached Hyderabad International Airport from various places in the city and left for Mumbai for their onward journey to Frankfurt.

A spokesman of GMR-led Airport said all passengers were serviced through the fully-sanitized Interim International Departures Terminal (IIDT), which was kept ready for the evacuation.

Earlier, the special flight, a Boeing B787-8 aircraft, landed at Hyderabad International Airport from Chennai, where some German nationals boarded it.

The aircraft left for Frankfurt from Mumbai, where some more Germans boarded the relief flight.

To meet this emergency requirement, a select group of personnel from GHIAL Terminal Operations, Airside Operations, Airport Operations & Control Center (AOCC), Air Traffic Control (ATC), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Immigration, Customs and others were deployed.

Special screening and safety measures were in place during the flight's handling to protect against the COVID-19 threat including thermal screening prior to terminal entry, mandatory social distancing enforced through special queuing arrangements at all passenger processing points.

The Hyderabad Airport is handling COVID-19 relief and evacuation flights. Earlier, it handled an IndiGo medical evacuation flight on March 28. IndiGo, through this flight, evacuated its crew stuck in Hyderabad.
01/03/20 IANS/News Minute

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US coordinating with India to bring back its stranded citizens: Official

Washington D.C: The Trump administration is coordinating with the Indian government to evacuate stranded American citizens from India who have expressed interest to return to the US, a top official here has said, amid the rapid spread of coronavirus pandemic that has upended life, disrupted travel and killed over 37,500 people.

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Ian Brownlee told reporters during a teleconference on Monday that the US had brought back some 25,000 of its citizens from 50 countries and another 9,000, including those from India, have expressed their interest to return to America in the wake of the deadly coronavirus pandemic that has engulfed the world.
“Now we are seeing growing interest from US citizens wanting to return from Asia, India, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. We had our first repatriation flight out of Bangladesh today and are coordinating with the Indian Government to begin flights there,” Brownlee said.

The US is making arrangements to bring back its nationals, who have expressed their interest in view of the coronavirus pandemic, he said.

“We are tracking over 100 additional flights over the next week, and we have identified an additional 9,000 US citizens who have indicated interest in those flights,” Brownlee said.

Urging US citizens to make plans now to avail themselves of the come back options, the official said that they are now seeing more US citizens decide to stay abroad and ride out this crisis where they are.
“If people decide not to take advantage of these flights now, they will also need to hunker down where they are,” he said.

The US Embassy in India said on Monday that it was anticipating several flights from New Delhi and Mumbai to US this week. Unlike India, which repatriated its citizens free of cost, the United States, most of the time, hires the services of private airlines and its citizens are asked to pay for the air fare, which is generally much more than the regular commercial fair.
31/03/20 PTI/Telangana Today

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India’s air connection to China third time unlucky

Early this year, IndiGo – India’s largest carrier by fleet and market share – announced new flights connecting Mumbai to Chengdu. This would complement the airline’s operations to China; it already operated flights to Chengdu from New Delhi and to Guangzhou from Kolkata. In addition to mainland China, the airline operated flights to Hong Kong from Kolkata and Bengaluru. IndiGo was buoyant about its China operations and even started a call centre in Guangzhou.

Then came the crash – Coronavirus started impacting travel to/from China in January and soon swell into a global phenomenon. As of today, IndiGo -- like all other airlines in India -- is grounded. IndiGo was on a sprint to increase its international presence as was told by its top management in successive calls with investors and analysts post declaration of their quarterly results. It is déjà vu when it comes to India-China operations!

For a long period of time, there have been destinations where foreign carriers were successful and Indian carriers hardly ventured or failed. A good glimpse of this can be found in the utilisation of bilateral rights. The India-Malaysia bilateral had 100 percent utilisation by the Malaysian side and zero from Indian side, until IndiGo launched operations. It was the same story for Turkey as well.  The story was more or less similar to China and a couple of places in the Middle East until a few years ago.

The India–China Air Services Agreement (ASA) allows 42 weekly services or 6 daily flights between the two countries. Hong Kong is not part of the ASA between India and China. Data for last year, before IndiGo launched operations, showed that Chinese carriers utilised 41 of those 42 services while Air India was the sole carrier to ply to China with five weekly services.
31/03/20 Ameya Joshi/moneycontrol.com

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Canadians stuck in India told to pay $2,900 for special flight home

Ottawa: Canadians stuck in India have been given the option of a special flight back home — but they’ll have to foot the $2,900 bill themselves, according to the federal government.

The government recently sent an email to all Canadians registered in India informing them of the availability of these special flights intended to bring them back to Canada. The letter "strongly" encourages Canadians to take advantage of the flights, which come at an estimated cost of $2,900 per passenger.

A return flight from India currently costs less than $2,000, making the $2,900 price tag seem far more expensive.
"I'm happy that we're getting the flights, I’m happy that we're getting home, however the cost which they're expecting us to pay - it's outstanding," Melissa Chadha, a Canadian stuck in India with her husband and infant child, told CTV News Channel on Tuesday.
"We feel that we're kind of bullied into having to pay this extra money."

A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada explained that this was the lowest price Canada was able to obtain from the airline providing the flights, which they said was not a Canadian airline.

They said the flights are more expensive right now because of the exceptional circumstances, not because of any profit for the airlines, and that the government has a $5,000 loan available to those who need it to cover the costs of their return. Canadians trapped abroad are also being assisted in other countries, including Peru, Spain, Honduras, Ecuador, El Salvador and Guatemala.

However, that $5,000 loan ultimately has to be repaid — and passengers are only able to access it once they've exhausted all other options.

"They said that we should be asking friends and families for money," Chadha said, adding that Canadians are also encouraged to use their credit cards to purchase the tickets.

The letter Chadha and others like her received from the government confirms her assertion. It says travellers should attempt to use their own financial means to arrange their return to Canada.

They can access the emergency $5,000 loan "if [they] are able to demonstrate that this is not possible."

In addition to the cost of the flight, Canadians trapped in India will also need to foot the bill for safe passage to the airport. If they do not take advantage of this option, the government warned, the Canadians risk being denied passage and missing their flight.
31/03/20 Rachel Gilmore/CTVNews.ca

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GMR Hyderabad airport handles Covid-19 evacuation flights

Hyderabad: While the world battles the pandemic and India is under a lockdown, GMR Hyderabad International Airport is handling Covid-19 relief and evacuation flights.

The airport on Tuesday handled a special relief flight operated by Air India to evacuate German nationals stranded in the country.

The special flight AI 3005, a Dreamliner (Boeing B787-8) aircraft, landed at Hyderabad airport today at 7.32 am from Chennai. In coordination with the German Consulate and the Telangana government, a group of 38 passengers arrived at the airport at around 6 am.

A select group of personnel from GHIAL Terminal Operations, Airside Operations and other critical operators were made available to ensure the safe departure of the stranded passengers.

Special screening and safety measures were in place, including thermal screening prior to terminal entry and mandatory social distancing enforced through special queuing arrangements at all passenger processing points.

The passengers from Hyderabad joined those who had boarded the aircraft in Chennai. The flight departed from Hyderabad to Mumbai at 9.22 am. From there, all the German nationals were to be flown to Frankfurt.

On March 28, the airport handled another special rescue flight of IndiGo to evacuate its crew stuck in Hyderabad. IndiGo flight 6E 9999 landed at the Hyderabad airport on March 28 with its eight-member crew, who disembarked here and departed to Chennai with five stranded IndiGo crew members.
31/03/20 Business Line

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Air India to operate 9 charters to Frankfurt to fly back Germans from India

New Delhi: Germany has mounted a massive exercise to fly out its citizens from India. Tuesday onwards Air India will operate nine charter flights from cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai to Frankfurt on its wide body aircraft to fly Germans back home over next few days. These aircraft will fly back as ferry flights — meaning with no passengers — while returning from Germany to Delhi. Last week, Lufthansa had operated two special flights from Delhi, using its double decker 500-seater Airbus A380, to fly Germans back home.

Air India has operated large number of special flights to fly back Indians stranded in corona hotspots like China, Japan and Europe. Thousands have flown back home on these flights.

There is huge demand for similar charters by AI from other countries too like US, UK and Canada to fly back their citizens from India. “The situation is very fluid. Discussions are on but as of now no decision has been taken,” said sources.

German Ambassador to India, Walter J Lindner, tweeted on Monday: “After flying 1,000 stranded travellers from Delhi to Frankfurt last week, we are working closely with Indian authorities (especially ministry of external affairs) to bring home many more. Challenges amidst lock-down not small, but we’re working on it 24/7… We continue to do everything humanly possible to bring the stranded travellers still remaining in India back to Germany.”
30/03/20 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Lifeline Udan: Air India to operate cargo flights to China to get medical equipment

New Delhi: Air India will operate regular cargo flights between India and China from Friday (April 3) to transport “critical medical equipment and supplies”. The airline will establish a “cargo air-bridge” with China for the purpose.

The Air India (AI) Group, parent AI and regional subsidiary Alliance Air, have operated 45 of the 62 cargo “lifeline Udan flights” that ferried 15.4 tonnes of essential medical supplies to fight coronavirus within the country in the five days from March 26 to 30, said the aviation ministry.

Private carriers like IndiGo, SpiceJet and Blue Dart flew some medical cargo flights on a commercial basis.

The “lifeline Udan” cargo includes COVID-19 related reagents, enzymes, medical equipment, testing kits, personal protective equipment (PPE), masks, gloves and other accessories required by Corona warriors across the country.

Indian Air Force and Pawan Hans also operated some flights to ferry this essential material.

“The lifeline Udan flights are planned using a hub and spoke model. Cargo hubs have been established at Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kolkata. Lifeline Udan flights connect these hubs to each other and therefrom to different parts of the country… Special focus has been on the North East Region (NER), island territories and the hill states. NER is being connected by Lifeline Udan through the regional hubs in Kolkata, Bagdogra and Guwahati. These in turn are connected to cities like Dibrugarh, Shillong, Aizawl, Agartala, Imphal and Dimapur using turboprops and helicopters,” said the ministry statement.
31/03/20 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Air-India evacuates stranded Germans from Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai to Frankfurt

A group of 38 Germans who were stranded in Hyderabad were evacuated by a special flight of Air India on Tuesday to Frankfurt.
The AI 3005, Dreamliner (Boeing B787-8) landed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport on Tuesday morning carrying some German nationals from Chennai. From Hyderabad it flew to Mumbai, to take in some more Germans stranded there.
According to the GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL) officials, 19 female, 17 male and 2 infant passengers from Hyderabad were serviced through the fully sanitized Interim International Departures Terminal (IIDT), kept ready for the evacuation measure. Special screening and safety measures were in place during the flight’s handling to protect against the COVID-19 threat including thermal screening prior to terminal entry, mandatory mandatory social distancing enforced through special queuing arrangements at all passenger processing points. Since the airport operations are closed because of the ban on all flights, a few personnel from all departments from CISF, immigration-customs to terminal operations were pressed into service to meet this emergency requirement. As per the flight itinerary, from Mumbai, all German nationals were to be flown to Frankfurt in Germany.
31/03/20 Prasad Nichenametla/Deccan Herald

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Air India flies foreign nationals to Frankfurt in five flights

Mumbai: Air India on Tuesday operated five chartered flights to Frankfurt carrying foreign nationals, mostly Germans, who were stranded in the country due to the nationwide lockdown, according to an airline spokesperson.
The five flights were operated with Mumbai and Delhi as the two hubs.

Out of the them, four flights took off for Frankfurt from Mumbai and one from New Delhi, the spokesperson said.

The four flights operated from Mumbai picked up foreign nationals from Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. People were also ferried from Mumbai.

The fifth flight picked up people from the national capital and Kolkata before flying to Frankfurt.

All the five services were operated with Air India''s 256-seater Boeing 787-800 (Dreamliner) planes, the spokesperson said.
31/03/20 PTI/Outlook

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Overseas air cargo movements exceeds target ahead of lockdown

Tiruchi: The Tiruchi international airport, one of non metro airports in the country, has surpassed the target set for overseas cargo handling during the 2019-20 financial year even before the nation-wide lockdown and cancellation of international flights in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The international air cargo terminal at Tiruchi handled over 7,900 metric tonnes of overseas freight by February itself thereby exceeding the target of 7,500 metric tonnes set for 2019-20 financial year, a senior Airports Authority of India official said.
However, stakeholders feel that the current lockdown and the cancellation of all international flights since March last week in the wake of spread of COVID-19 pandemic would have an impact in respect of overseas cargo movement from Tiruchi airport in the early period of the 2020-21 financial year due to the crisis at the global-level. All international flights have been cancelled up to April 14 as per the Centre’s directive.

On an average, the Tiruchi international air cargo terminal used to handle more than 550 metric tonnes overseas cargo every month during the 2019-20 fiscal. There have been occasions when the figure exceeded 700 and 800 metric tonnes in certain months during 2019-20, according to Airports Authority of India statistics.
31/03/20 R Rajaram/The Hindu

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Spoke to Jaishankar to assist British nationals return from India: UK minister

London: UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Monday that he had spoken to his Indian counterpart, S Jaishankar, among nearly 20 other foreign ministers over the weekend as he announced a new plan to charter special flights to bring back British nationals who find themselves stranded in the COVID-19 worldwide travel lockdown.

The senior UK Cabinet minister, who led the daily briefing from Downing Street, said the UK government had struck a deal with airlines to evacuate British nationals from certain priority countries where commercial routes are non-operational.

India will be among the priority countries after Raab said that the GBP 75-million government initiative would focus on countries where large numbers of British travellers find themselves stranded due to travel restrictions.

"This is the greatest global challenge in a generation. An unprecedented number of British people are trying to get home," said Raab, the second in command to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson – who remains in self-isolation after testing positive for coronavirus last week.

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said charter flights are already up and running to Ghana and Tunisia, with India and South Africa to be added to the list this week.

"We are negotiating intensely with countries around the world to secure permissions for return flights where airspace has been closed," the FCO said.

Once special flights have been arranged, these will be promoted through the UK government''s travel advice and by the British Embassy or High Commission in the particular country.

British travellers who want a seat on the flight will book and pay directly through a dedicated travel management company.

"This is a worrying time for many British citizens travelling abroad. We''ve already worked with airlines and governments to enable hundreds of thousands to return home on commercial flights, and we will keep as many of those options open as possible," said Raab.

"Where commercial flights are not possible, we will build on the earlier charter flights we organised back from China, Japan, Cuba, Ghana and Peru. The arrangements agreed today will provide a clearer basis to organise special charter flights where Britons find themselves stranded. Our priority will always be the most vulnerable," he added.

These flights will be run by British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and EasyJet, among other airlines who have signed up to the deal.
30/03/20 Aditi Khanna/PTI/Outlook

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Switched off: phones of some international fliers

Calcutta: Around 11,000 international passengers have arrived in the city between March 9 and March 26, and tracking a number of them has turned out to be impossible, sources in the state government said on Tuesday.
The state health department and various municipal corporations and municipalities have remained in touch with a majority of them over the phone, seeking details about their health and trying to find out whether they have developed any symptom of Covid-19. But many others have remained unreachable.

An official of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation said: “There are some non-Indian passengers who we could not contact because their phone numbers provided by the airlines are switched off. It seems they have taken new SIM cards after arriving in India. We don’t know where and how they are. We do not even know whether they have returned to their countries.”

The tracking involves calling up the passengers every day and asking whether they are running a temperature or facing any respiratory problems, and also whether they have quarantined themselves for the mandatory 14-day period.
“There is no way to cross-check. We have to believe what the people are saying. But it could well be that some of them have jumped the quarantine and left,” said an official of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation.

The civic body is in charge of keeping track of the people who have arrived in the city from abroad and find out whether they have developed any symptoms of coronavirus infection.

While arrival of international flights in India was stopped on March 22, ships have arrived at the Calcutta port between March 24 and March 26, the government sources said.

“The state health department has prepared a list of passengers who arrived at the Calcutta airport between March 9 and 22, and a few people who arrived by ship between March 24 and 26. Together, the figure stands at 11,000-odd,” said a state government official. “The ships had only crew members.”
31/03/20 Subhajoy/Telegraph

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Germany, U.K. seek Air India flights to evacuate citizens

Germany and the U.K. have approached the Indian government expressing their interest to charter Air India’s flights to facilitate the return of their nationals stranded in India following travel restrictions to curb the spread of the COVID-19, according to several officials.

Between March 31 and April 3, the Air India will operate nine flights to Frankfurt with its 256-seater Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. These special flights come at a time when India has banned all commercial flights, i.e. domestic and international, until April 14.

The Air India will operate five flights on March 31 to Frankfurt, of which four will be from Mumbai and one from New Delhi. Over the next three days, there will be four flights from Mumbai. It will first bring Germans from various parts including Goa, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram and to Delhi or Mumbai before undertaking the long-haul flight.
The Canadian High Commission, too, is exploring ways to help Canadians in India return to their country.

"The High Commission of Canada is aware that there are Canadians currently located in many parts of India seeking to return home. The High Commission is actively working to identify possible solutions for Canadians wishing to return from India to Canada. Updates regarding departure options are shared with our Canadian consular clients as they become available," the High Commission said in response to a specific query.

Officials also said there was a request to operate charters to London to enable the U.K. citizens to return to their homes and it was under consideration.

A British High Commission spokesperson said, “The Foreign Secretary has spoken with the Indian External Affairs Minister and we are working urgently on a plan to get our people back home. This is an absolute priority for us and we hope to be able to share news very soon.”
30/03/20 Suhasini/HaidarJagriti Chandra/The Hindu

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Coronavirus fake news: No evacuation flights from UK, clarifies Indian High Commission

New Delhi: The Indian High Commission in the UK took to Twitter to clarify that no evacuation flights were being scheduled for Indians. The Indian mission refuted WhatsApp forwards that stated that stranded Indians are being evacuated from the UK onboard Air India flights.

The WhatsApp message says, "If anyone knows anyone who is stuck in London, Air India is operating evacuation flights from DEL and BOM. They will need to contact the Indian High Commission in London to figure out about a seat. These are on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd of April DEL LHR DEL. Apr 3rd BOM LHR BOM." As referred in the message, DEL is Delhi, BOM is Mumbai and LHR is Heathrow airports.

The Indian High Commission said that these are just rumours and asked Indians not to pay any heed to them. "High Commission notes with dismay that some rumours are being spread even in such trying times. We request all not to pay attention to rumours. Stay connected with us for updates," it said.
It further added, "Such a misleading message is being spread. Please do not share it with others. At this difficult time please refrain from spreading rumours. Stay connected with us for updates."
This WhatsApp message as well as the High Commission's clarification comes as many Indians find themselves stuck in the country following the travel ban imposed by India. Amid the lockdown, the Boris Johnson government stated that they will extend till May 31 the visas of Indians whose documents are expired or are due to expire.
30/03/20  BusinessToday.In

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AI to fly home Germans stuck in Kolkata Tuesday

Kolkata: On Tuesday, a passenger aircraft will touch down at Kolkata airport for the first time since international flight operations were suspended on March 22, followed by domestic flights three days later. Only cargo aircraft have been flying to the city since.
According to sources, an empty Air India Boeing B-787 aircraft will come to Kolkata on Tuesday and pick up German nationals, including the envoy and diplomatic mission staff as well as select staffers of other European missions in the city. The plane will then head to Delhi, where more German citizens and those from other EU nations will board the flight that will then depart for Frankfurt.

“This evacuation flight is one of nine chartered flights that AI will operate from Delhi and Mumbai to Frankfurt, following a request from the German chancellor Angela Merkel to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Following the lockdown, German nationals are stuck in Kolkata, Bengaluru, Goa, Trivandrum, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai. AI will operate these one-way flights to help them return home,” a source in the national carrier told TOI.

According to airline sources, AI will operate five flights on March 31, one flight on April 1, two on April 2 and the final one on April 3.

With a capacity of 236 seats, the nine B-787 flights can evacuate over 2,000 Europeans. There will be no passenger on the return flights. The crew will wear personal protection equipment (masks and gloves) during the flight and on-board services will be limited to avoid exposure and infection. Sources said pre-packed meals are likely to be kept in the seat pockets for passengers. On their return, the crew will undergo health checks at a hospital before being put in home isolation for two weeks. The evacuation aircraft will also carry hazmat suits in the cockpit for the crew in case any Covid-19 suspect is on board.
30/03/20 Times of India

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AirAsia Group hibernates fleet

Sepang: AirAsia Group announced, at the weekend, it is temporarily hibernating most of its fleet across its entire network in Asia, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic that led to extensive border restrictions.

The actual fleet downtime differs with each of the group’s member airlines.

AirAsia Malaysia suspended all flights, international and domestic, 28 March and that continues to 21 April.
AirAsia Philippines suspended all flights 20 March, and that continues to 14 April

AirAsia Thailand suspended all international flights from 25 March to 25 April and now suspends all domestic services from 1 to 30 April.

AirAsia Indonesia suspends all domestic flights 1 to 25 April and international flights from 1 April to 17 May.

AirAsia India suspended all flights 25 March for 21 days. (The airline flies only domestic routes)

AirAsia X Malaysia suspended most flights from 28 March until 31 May. The airline only services international routes.

AirAsia X Thailand suspended all flights 16 March for three months. Its DMK-ICN service suspended until 19 April.
30/03/20 TTR Weekly

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Emirates to fly daily cargo-only passenger flights to 7 Indian cities from March 31

On Sunday, Emirates SkyCargo announced its updated freighter frequencies which include daily cargo-only passenger flights to Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kochi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Trivandrum from their hub in Dubai International Airport (DXB).

Meanwhile, Mumbai and Ahmedabad will also receive weekly twice full freighters of SkyCargo routed as Dubai World Central (DWC) - Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) - Mumbai International Airport (BOM) - Dubai World Central (DWC) and Dubai World Central (DWC) – Ahmadabad (AMD) - Dubai World Central (DWC) respectively.
This comes after Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) permitted foreign airlines to use their passenger aircraft as freighters to Indian destinations. Emirates will be deploying its Boeing 777 passenger flights to India with 30 tonnes to cargo capacity in the belly space.
30/03/20 ITLN

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Flight from Calcutta for stranded foreigners

Calcutta: The federal foreign office of Germany has arranged an Air India flight from Calcutta to evacuate its nationals stranded in eastern India because of the cessation of international flights in India to fight the spread the coronavirus.

Citizens of other European Union nations and the UK will be allowed on board as well.

The plane is expected to fly out from Dum Dum airport with more than 150 passengers on Tuesday morning.

“The embassy signed a contract with Air India on Saturday morning in Delhi. This repatriation programme is for short-term visitors who do not have back-up to stay on as well as Indians who hold permits of residency in Germany,” deputy consul general Jurgen Thomas Schrod told Metro.

The flight will stop at Delhi for refuelling before flying onwards to Frankfurt.

There will be about 100 Germans on board, along with citizens of Britain, France, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece and Finland. “Since this is a special flight, flyers will not get a boarding pass but will have to sign a form to pay a fare equivalent to normal economy class ticket rates.”

The flight has a capacity of 238 passengers but will carry only about 150 to ensure social distancing. “We still have a few seats available to fill up,” Schrod said.

The deputy consul general worked a 10-hour shift on Saturday, attending calls on three phones and answering emails, and was back at his table on Sunday at the consulate general with his colleagues. “We are a small consulate but this needs to be done. My colleagues in other European consulates in the city are also working hard to make this a success. We want to ease the burden on society and the government here in the midst of the pandemic.”
29/03/20 Sudeshna Banerjee/Telegraph

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Young man who flew out of Dublin Airport hospitalised with COVID-19 symptoms

A young person who travelled from Dublin Airport to India was immediately rushed to hospital upon landing with suspected coronavirus symptoms, it has been revealed.
The Health Department in India announced that a 21-year-old man had travelled to the state from the capital but was immediately rushed to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital after showing signs of the deadly COVID-19 bug.
Indian health chiefs were able to confirm on Friday that the young patient had completely recovered from his symptoms and was being released after two subsequent mandatory tests came back as negative, reports The News Minute.
They added that the young man will remain home quarantined for the next 14 days.
Health chiefs at home confirmed more tragic news last night as three more people lost their lives to coronavirus in Ireland.
As well as this, Ireland has another 302 confirmed cases bringing the total number of patients to have contracted the deadly bug to 2,121.
28/03/20 Darragh Berry/DublinLive

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Amid Lockdown, Indigo Operates Flight From Delhi To Jodhpur For Iran-returned Indians

Mumbai: In-line with its commitment to provide support to the nation in the current scenario, IndiGo operated a relief flight from Delhi to Jodhpur on March 29, 2020. India is currently under a 21-day lockdown till April 14 to curb the spread of the coronavirus and consequently, all international and domestic commercial passenger flights have been suspended for this period.

However, as per an official statement,  the flight 6E-9121 operated by 2 captains and 4 cabin crew, carried 139 Indian passengers to Jodhpur to be shifted to the Army isolation centre. All passengers were certified as being corona negative prior to the flight. These passengers had arrived from Iran to Delhi on another flight as part of the evacuation process of Indian citizens from the Covid-2019 impacted countries.

Furthermore, the statement apprised about the precautionary measures while checking in and operating the flight, including overall staff, crew and aircraft maintenance engineers using personal protective equipment like masks and gloves, spraying disinfectant on all the bags prior to loading, meal boxes placed on seats prior to boarding and passenger disembarkation in lots of 20 and x-ray treatment of all check-in baggage.
Meanwhile, Indian airlines are currently in "grave and immediate danger" of insolvency as a result of disruption in air travel due to the coronavirus pandemic that can reduce about 5.75 lakh jobs in the Indian aviation industry, global airlines body IATA has told Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
29/03/20 Prachi Mankani/Republic World

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Indian grandparents appeal to return home after week in Dubai airport

An elderly couple stranded in Dubai airport have appealed to New Delhi to allow them to return home to India after the country shut off international travel to curb the spread of the coronavirus earlier this week.

Amal Kumar Mandal, 75, and his wife Tripti, 73, have been staying in a hotel inside Dubai International Airport.

The couple were among 11 travellers from Australia who missed the last flight home on March 21 when rain and lightning in Dubai disrupted their transit flight.

Mr Mandal is diabetic and desperate to return to his home town Baroda.

India closed international travel to and from the country on March 22 and has extended the ban until April 14 to contain the disease.

“We are mentally very upset,” said Mr Mandal.
28/03/20 Ramola Talwar Badam/National

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What Is Spicejet’s Plan For A Middle East Base?

At the end of October 2019, SpiceJet had announced its plans of setting up a hub at Ras Al-Khaimah (RAK) in the United Arab Emirates. The Indian low-cost carrier had initially intended to start a five-weekly service from Delhi, with plans to further increase connectivity to other Indian destinations. By the end of November, SpiceJet had already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with RAK airport, expressing their increasing interest. However, neither the flight nor the hub has been launched.
Before going further, we acknowledge that RAK is the airport code for Marrakesh Airport in Morocco. Within this article, it is being used as an abbreviation for the Emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah.
Ras Al-Khaimah, also known as ‘RAK’ is one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates. Located in the Northeastern UAE, it’s just an hour away from Dubai and Sharjah. Being an attractive tourist destination, RAK sees services from European and South Asian destinations. However, since the demise of RAK Airways (Ras Al-Khaimah’s home airline) in 2014, traffic at the airport has been fairly average.
Currently, Air India Express is the only carrier connecting RAK to India. SpiceJet saw this as an opportunity to dominate India-Ras Al-Khaimah passenger traffic. With a fleet of Boeing 737s, it could have easily connected RAK with any Indian city.
28/03/20 Ayush Syal/Simple Flying

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Two from Karnataka among 8 stranded at London airport after flights cancelled

London: Eight passengers from India including two from Uttar Kannada are stranded at Heathrow International Airport. They were in transit and were travelling to India when the country suddenly stopped inbound flights due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The eight passengers including an infant and a child boarded flight from Huston on March 18. They boarded a connecting flight from Atlanta Airport and reached Heathrow International Airport on March 19.Speaking to Daijiworld, Ganapathi Shanbhag, a senior citizen and among the passengers stranded said, “We had boarded the 8:30 am flight from Huston and were travelling to India via Heathrow, London, when the Centre made the announcement to cancel all flights from foreign countries. As soon as we realized what had happened, we tried to get in touch with the Indian High Commissioner in London. Yet, we did not receive any positive response from embassy.
28/03/20 Daijiworld

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US arranges airlifting citizens stuck in India

New York: The US government was arranging to airlift American citizens stuck in India because of the lockdown imposed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a State Department official.

Ian Brownlee, the official dealing with consular affairs, said on Friday: "We are working directly with both US and foreign carriers to lay on aircraft direct from India to the US," to bring them back.

He said that the flights could start in about three days, "but it's the permitting that takes a while both in India and the US".

Last week, the State Department issued a "Level 4" travel alert advising its citizens not to travel internationally and asking those abroad to return home.

India is under a lockdown to fight the coronavirus pandemic with all commercial passenger flights cancelled.

Brownlee said that about 1,500 Americans in the New Delhi area, between 600 and 700 in the Mumbai area and 300 to 400 elsewhere had expressed interest in returning home.

He said that a church group has chartered a large aircraft to bring 150 or so Americans from India and the State Department was helping them get the necessary permits for the plane.
28/03/20 Arul Louis/daijiworld

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Garuda Leases 6 Heathrow Slots To Air India For 2 Years

It appears that Garuda Indonesia is leasing six slot pairs at the congested London Heathrow airport to flag carrying Indian airline Air India. A slot swap request form has been shared on social media, suffering the lease will be in place for a period of two years.
Despite its financial struggles, Air India has remained committed to serving London as a key market from its hubs in both Delhi and Mumbai. Back in January, the carrier adjusted its schedule to increase weekly Heathrow services from Mumbai from daily to 10 times per week.

It looked as if these 10 per week flights would continue into the summer season, as the carrier filed ongoing schedule increases from the end of March onwards. While the current lockdown is certainly affecting this plan, the carrier remains positive about the long term outcomes, as it has leased six more slots from Garuda Indonesia for both summer 2020 and summer 2021.
The request form indicates that Garuda will lease Air India takeoff and landing slots on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. These slots will be operated by Air India’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner, flying from Mumbai for all services.

Weekday flights will arrive from India at 19:00, with takeoff scheduled for around an hour and 45 minutes later. The Saturday service will land at 18:00, heading back to Mumbai at approximately 19:45. The lease period covers the whole IATA summer season for this year and next, and will increase Air India’s scheduled flights to Heathrow from Mumbai to 13 services a week.
27/03/20 Joanna Bailey/Simple Flying

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Air India plans nine flights to Frankfurt to ferry expats from Mumbai

Mumbai: Air India plans to operate nine relief flights to Frankfurt next week to ferry hundreds of expats stranded in the financial capital due to the lockdown amid the coronavirus outbreak, a source said on Friday.

The source told PTI that the flights are likely to be operated between March 31 and April 3.

Frankfurt is the main aviation hub of Germany and has strong connectivity with various cities worldwide.

"We plan to operate as many as nine relief flights to Frankfurt from Mumbai to transport expats who are stuck in the city due to the ban on commercial flying," the source said.

While five flights may be operated on March 31, two services are planned for April 2. One flight each is expected to operated on April 1 and April 3, respectively, the source added.

According to the source, Air India is expected to deploy Boeing 777 and 787-8 (Dreamliner) planes for the relief flights.

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, the national carrier has operated a series of rescue flights to bring back Indians stranded in various countries, including China (Wuhan), Italy (Milan and Rome) and Japan.
27/03/20 PTI/Times of India

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India Extends International Flight Ban Until Mid-April

Yesterday, the Indian government announced it would be extending its ban on international flights in and out of the country. The ban was originally set to be lifted on 31 March but has now been extended until 14 April as the number of coronavirus cases in India continues to rise.

On Wednesday, India began its 21-day lockdown, following numerous other countries into a state of temporary stasis. The country has already temporarily canceled visas for almost all foreign citizens and has had a ban on international flights in place since last Sunday. A ban on domestic flights followed shortly after, coming into effect on Tuesday.

The ban on international flights, which was introduced last Sunday, was originally only supposed to last for a week. However, India has seen a significant uptick in confirmed cases of COVID-19 since then, with the nationwide total more than doubling from 396 to 863 cases. Additionally, now that the full lockdown has been put into place, demand for flights, especially international ones, is a fraction of its normal level.

Although the ban will apply to virtually all passenger flights, India’s civil aviation ministry says that a few exceptions will be made. Firstly, cargo flights, which are particularly important at times like these, will still be permitted to run as normal. Secondly, flights that have been specifically approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation will also be permitted. This will likely include repatriation flights for citizens of other countries who are currently stuck in India.
27/03/20 Henry Bewicke/Simple Flying

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Air India rescues 316 stranded Israelis from India

An Air India charted flight from New Delhi carrying 316 Israelis landed at Ben Gurion’s empty airport on Thursday night thanks to the strong coordination between the Israeli embassy and Indian government.

Ron Malka, Israel’s ambassador in New Delhi,  personally escorted the passengers to the plane and provided them with food for the trip back home.
“I thank and appreciate the @airindiain flight staff who are responsibly and selflessly ensuring that Israelis get home safe. Dhanyavad from the bottom of our heart,” Malka tweeted after takeoff.

Considering both countries are on lockdown, it took awhile for Israel’s embassy to deal with logistical problems, such as visa extensions, passport renewals, and coordinating a police escort to New Delhi’s airport.

Pankaj Tiwari, Air India’s country manager in Tel Aviv, told India’s PTI news agency how thankful he was for the airline’s selfless service, whose employees, “in such difficult circumstances rose to the occasion keeping aside their personal interests to make this flight a reality.”
27/03/20 World Israel News

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Coronavirus: Israel Thanks Air India For Rescuing Its Stranded Nationals

Tel Aviv: Amid the coronavirus pandemic, an Air India special flight carrying 314 Israelis landed in Tel Aviv on Thursday evening with many relieved passengers holding the flags of India and Israel thanking the Indian national carrier and its crew for flying them back home in difficult circumstances.
The Israeli embassy in New Delhi had requested help from the Ministry of External Affairs to evacuate the Israeli citizens.

Air India recently operated similar rescue flights for Indians stuck in China, Italy, Iran and Spain.

According to a senior official of the airline, the Boeing 777 aircraft departed from Delhi around 4 pm.

Israel's Ambassador in New Delhi, Ron Malka, was at the airport to see off the passengers and thanked Air India for the selfless service.

"I thank and appreciate the @airindiain flight staff who are responsibly and selflessly ensuring that Israelis get home safe. Dhanyavad from the bottom of our (heart in emoji)", Mr Malka tweeted before the flight took off from India.
Air India's country manager in Tel Aviv, Pankaj Tiwari, praised the entire team of "ground staff, engineering personnel, catering staff and the crew of the flight who in such difficult circumstances rose to the occasion keeping aside their personal interests to make this flight a reality".
"Whenever such call of service is made, Air India will always be in the forefront and do their best to safely unite the passengers to their families", Mr Tiwari told news agency PTI.
India is on lockdown from March 25 to April 14 to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
27/03/20 PTI/NDTV

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AirAsia and AirAsia X to be grounded from 28 March

Malaysian low-cost carriers AirAsia and AirAsia X will suspend operations from 28 March due to growing border restrictions imposed by various countries amid the coronavirus pandemic.

AirAsia will be grounded until 21 April, while long-haul sister carrier AirAsia X is to be grounded until 31 May, says AirAsia Group, which made the announcement on behalf of its component carriers and AirAsia X Group.
The two Malaysian AirAsia carriers are joining their overseas affiliates in India, Thailand, and the Philippines, which began grounding their aircraft earlier this month.

AirAsia India suspended flights since 25 March for three weeks, in line with a nationwide lockdown that began on the same day. Philippines AirAsia has halted flying since 20 March, over a similar measure imposed on the country’s main Luzon island group. Thai AirAsia X also began a three-month suspension on 16 March.

Cirium fleets data show that close to 190 aircraft operated by the five carriers will not fly during the suspension.

“We believe this temporary fleet hibernation is the right thing to do to ensure the well-being of our guests and employees, which will remain as the top priority of our business during this challenging time,” says AirAsia Group.
27/03/20 Flight Global

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'Big relief' for in-transit passengers at DXB as they're offered hotel rooms, essentials

Dubai: Several Indian passengers who are currently stranded at the Dubai International Airport  have been moved to hotel rooms and provided with basic essentials, Khaleej Times has learnt.

The Consul General of India has thanked the UAE authorities for helping the 19 passengers who are unable to fly home due to flight cancellations and airport closure in India.

"We thank the UAE authorities for accommodating the 19 Indian nationals who were stuck at Dubai airport for past several days. They got stranded due to various restrictions to deal with Covid-19 pandemic. Hotel rooms have been given to them inside the airport," Indian Consulate tweeted on Friday.

These passengers were in transit at the Dubai Airport when India announced the decision to impose a ban on passenger flights. Some of the stranded passengers have been at the airport since March 18.

Dubai is taking steps to help those passengers who were in transit at the Dubai International Airport when their home countries suddenly stopped inbound flights. Dubai Airports has issued a statement informing that airlines and embassies are now working to send the passengers to their home countries.
27/03/20 Anjana Sankar/Khaleej Times

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As lockdown loomed, India's rich scrambled to fly kids home from abroad

New Delhi: On March 16, a Falcon 2000 jet touched down at Mumbai Airport. Onboard were two young women in their late teens. Both, children of business families in the city, flown in from London. Both had been transferred from their universities in two separate towns to the airport in London. Two sets of parents in Mumbai had arranged for the flight to bring the girls home.

What their parents would have forked out for the flight back? About Rs 90 lakh.

The two teens were among several who arrived in a two-week period from March 8-21.

As the Covid-19 crisis dramatically intensified earlier this month and it became clear that Indian airspace could go into lockdown at any time, India's rich rushed to hire luxury private jets to fly children studying abroad back home.

Over two weeks before inbound commercial flights were stopped by the government on March 21, as many as 102 private charter flights ferried children home from their universities in the United Kingdom and Europe, mostly France, Germany and Switzerland.

The aircraft enlisted for these flights included top-end luxury jets like the Dassault Falcon 2000, Bombardier Challenger series and Hawker business aircraft. And these were organised by just one aviation firm.

A further 31 biz jet flights transported elders, mostly parents of businessmen, between Tier 2 and Tier 1 cities like Delhi and Mumbai during those two weeks.
27/03/20 Shiv Aroor/India Today

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558 Malaysians stranded in India arrive home, more from Cambodia set to land tonight

Kuala Lumpur:  Five hundred and fifty-eight Malaysians who were stranded in India after the republic shut its airspace and borders to contain the Covid-19 outbreak have safely arrived home today, deputy foreign minister Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar said.
In a statement issued today, he said that Malaysians and Cambodians who are stranded in each other’s nation would also be repatriated.

“The Foreign Ministry (Wisma Putra) wishes to inform that 558 Malaysians have arrived safely from Chennai and Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) via three (3) AirAsia special aircrafts. A total of 186 Malaysians arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA 2) from Chennai at 5.50am by AK-013 flight.
“Meanwhile, another 372 people arrived from Trichy via AK-22 and AK-28 flights at 5am and 6.40am. The three AirAsia flights ferrying Malaysians home were fully funded by the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC),” he said.
Kamarudin said that MIC has also helped Putrajaya fly home 1,119 Malaysians stranded in India, which included three infants, and stressed that those who are back must now undergo a 14-day self-isolation, as mandated by the Ministry of Health.

He said to date, 1,679 Malaysians are still stranded in India, and the ministry is continuing its efforts to bring them home as soon as possible.
25/03/20 Yiswaree Papansamy/Malay Mail

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Air India evacuates 277 more Indians from Iran; all evacuees reach Jodhpur

277 evacuees from Iran arrived Jodhpur Airport this morning, where they have been shifted to the army wellness Facility established in Jodhpur Military station. Most of these are pilgrims.

Defence Spokesperson Col. Sombit Ghosh told that a preliminary screening was conducted at the airport upon arrival.

The Army in coordination with the Rajasthan State Medical authorities and Civil Administration, Jodhpur has made adequate medical and administrative arrangements to cater for a comfortable stay and provide prophylactic medical support. The facility has a dedicated  team of Army doctors, who will be constantly monitoring the health parameters of the evacuees for the duration of their stay.
25/03/20 PTI/All India Radio

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Two Air India Planes to Carry Stranded Foreign Tourists to Jodhpur for Quarantine

Two special Air India planes will, on Wednesday, carry foreign tourists stranded in different parts of the country for mandatory quarantine at an Indian Army facility in Jodhpur as international flight operations remain suspended till March 29, the national carrier has said.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Air India has operated multiple special flights, evacuating Indian nationals stranded in places such as Wuhan in China and Rome in Italy, the two countries most hit by the virus.
"As you know these are testing times with even the aviation sector locked down but we as a national airline have a special role to play in operating charter/rescue flights," a senior official of the airline said in a message to crew members. "We are operating two Airbus flights tomorrow, on March 25 early morning, to Jodhpur taking international passengers for quarantine, return sector will be ferry (empty)," he said.

Hazmat Suits and PPE (personal protective equipment) would be provided to all operating crew, the official said.

The message was for only those crew members of the national carrier who are currently not under quarantine.

According to a source privy to the development, the Indian Army has kept a 500-bed facility in Jodhpur on standby to quarantine the foreign tourists arriving through the two special flights. "We seek volunteers for operating these two special charter Airbus flights tomorrow. Please WhatsApp your name and employee Id If you would like to be a part of this mission," the message noted.
25/03/20 News18

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249 British tourists stuck in Goa, India take a special flight to UK

As many as 249 British tourists stranded in Goa left for Manchester in a special flight early on Wednesday even as arrangements are under way to fly stranded tourists of other nationalities too, a tour operator involved in the exercise said.
Martin Joseph, who runs a charter company Freedom Holidays, arranged to ferry back 249 UK tourists along with TUI Airways, a Britain-based chartered travel company. He said that the central government made special exception for the exit of the stranded tourists.
"The 249 British tourists included those who had come to Goa by scheduled flights. India's charter aviation policy mandates that only those who come by a chartered flight can return by a chartered flight. But in this case, the central government allowed all tourists to fly back," Joseph whose company handles charter tourist operations, told reporters.

After the departure of the flight, the official Twitter handle of Goa's Dabolim International Airport said: "Matter of relief that guests shall be safe home amid COVID-19 crisis. AAI (Airport Authority of India) committed for service. Bon voyage".

Joseph also said that efforts were being made to bail out tourists from other nationalities who are currently stranded in the coastal state. For now, foreigners whose visas are likely to expire have been allowed to extend their visas online and stay put in view of the coronavirus pandemic.
25/03/20 Gulf Today

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277 Indians Evacuated from Iran in Mahan Air Flight Taken to Jodhpur for Quarantine

A Mahan Air flight carrying 277 Indian passengers evacuated from Tehran, Iran has landed at Delhi airport today early morning. All the 277 evacuees were then taken to Jodhpur Airport where they will quarantined for 14 days in the Army Wellness Facility established in Jodhpur Military Station. All passengers have been tested negative for COVID-19 in the initial screening.

This is one of the two flights to land in India carrying passengers stuck in Iran. Centre earlier gave permission to Iran-based Mahan Air for evacuating Indians stuck in the Middle Eastern country due to the outbreak of Covid-19.


As per plans, two ferry flights will evacuate around 600 Indians from Iran. The first flight flew with evacuated Indians from the Middle Eastern country on March 24, and landed on 25th March, while the second flight will be operated March 28.

According to highly placed sources, all these Indian nationals have tested negative for Covid-19.
25/03/20 News18

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2 Air India planes to evacuate stranded foreign tourists today

Two special Air India planes will on Wednesday carry foreign tourists stranded in different parts of the country for mandatory quarantine at an Indian Army facility in Jodhpur as international flight operations remain suspended till March 29, the national carrier has said.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Air India has operated multiple special flights, evacuating Indian nationals stranded in places such as Wuhan in China and Rome in Italy, the two countries most hit by the virus.

"As you know these are testing times with even the aviation sector locked down but we as a national airline have special role to play in operating charter/rescue flights," a senior official of the airline said in a message to crew members.

"We are operating two Airbus flights tomorrow March 25 early morning to Jodhpur taking international passengers for quarantine, return sector will be ferry (empty)," he said.

Hazmat Suits and PPE (personal protective equipment) would be provided to all operating crew, the official said.

The message was for only those crew members of the national carrier who are currently not under quarantine.
25/03/20 PTI/India Today

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Flight carrying 277 Indians from Iran lands at Delhi airport

As the entire country goes into lockdown from today, the total number of coronavirus cases in India has risen to 562, including 10 deaths. In one can be described as positive news, the number of infected persons also declined to 64 on Tuesday compared to 99 a day before. Of total cases 48 coronavirus patients have also been released so far. Meanwhile, The Mahan Air flight carrying as many as 277 Indian passengers landed at Delhi airport today early morning from Iran's capital city Tehran.
25/03/20 Business Today

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AirAsia maps rebooking options

Sepang: AirAsia is offering extended flexibility options for all existing flight bookings made on or before 22 March 2020 with a departure date between 23 March and 30 April 2020.

 The offer excludes Thailand and India domestic flight bookings operated by Thai AirAsia, airline code FD and AirAsia India, airline code I5.

Eligible passengers can now select one of two flexible travel options using the airline’s AI chatbot AVA on support.airasia.com or airasia.com

Passengers can change to any new travel date before 31 October 2020 on the same route any time up to 48 hours before flight departure an unlimited amount of times without any additional cost subject to seat availability.


Retain the value of the flight booking in the guest’s AirAsia BIG Member account for future travel with AirAsia to be redeemed within 365 calendar days from the issuance date.

The travel date of the new booking can fall on any date within the published flight schedule on airasia.com.

These options are available only for upcoming flight bookings made on or before 22 March 2020, with a departure date between 23 March 2020 and 30 April 2020.

However, these are not applicable for Thailand and India domestic flight bookings (operated by Thai AirAsia, airline code FD and AirAsia India, airline code I5) and all other flight bookings with a departure date from 1 May 2020 onwards.

The above information is only applicable for direct online bookings made via airasia.com. For group bookings or those made with travel agents, the passenger needs to contact the respective booking agent.

The airline’s customer support services are swamped with calls that have also overwhelmed the airline’s chatbot known as AVA.
25/03/20 TTRW

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"Risen To Call Of Humanity": PM's Shoutout To Air India Amid COVID-19 Ops

New Delhi: In a shoutout to an Air India team, involved in evacuation of about 260 Indians from coronavirus-hit Italy over the weekend, Prime Minister Narendra Modi this morning tweeted that their "outstanding efforts are admired by several people across India". The tweet comes a day after the state-run airlines had put out a statement where it talked about ostracisation its crew is facing by "vigilante resident welfare associations" over COVID-19 rescue ops.
Praising the Air India crew for demonstrating "utmost courage", PM Modi wrote: "Extremely proud of this team of @airindiain, which has shown utmost courage and risen to the call of humanity. Their outstanding efforts are admired by several people across India. #IndiaFightsCorona (sic)," the tweet read.

PM Modi shared a tweet from Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri in the post who said, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going". Mr Puri a photograph of the crew of Air India Boeing 777 led by Captain Swati Raval and Captain Raja Chauhan who airlifted 263 Indians, mostly students, stranded in Italy's Rome.
India has carried out evacuations from several countries in the past few weeks. It has brought back its citizens from Italy, China, Japan and Iran as the number of cases of coronavirus continues to rise in these countries.

Earlier this month, a special Air India aircraft brought back over 200 Indians stuck in Italy where number of deaths has surpassed death count in China, the country where COVID-19 originated. Another batch of 234 Indians was brought back from Iran.

However, amid these rescue operations, Air India staff has been facing discrimination, the state-run airlines said in a statement on Sunday.

"...It is alarming to note that in many localities, vigilante Resident Welfare Associations and neighbours have started ostracizing the crew, obstructing them from performing their duty or even calling in the police, simply because the crew travelled abroad in the course of their duty," Air India said in a statement.

"These vigilantes have conveniently forgotten that many a spouse, parent, sibling, child and near and dear one have been brought home safe and secure from affected countries, thanks to the heroic efforts of these Air India crew," the airline said.

"We would like to appeal to all concerned, particularly the law enforcement agencies, to ensure that our crew are treated with the courtesy, respect and freedom that every citizen of this country deserves especially in light of the fact of their having undertaken flight duties to affected countries to bring back Indian citizens," Air India said.
23/03/20 NDTV

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Karnataka releases flight details of 3 COVID-19 patients who landed in Mangaluru

The Dakshina Kannada district administration confirmed that four people from Kerala who were isolated when they landed at the Mangaluru International Airport had tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday.

Three of the four patients arrived at the Mangaluru International Airport from Dubai on March 19 and March 20. They were isolated at the Wenlock District Hospital after they were screened at the airport. One other patient arrived at the Kozhikode International Airport from Saudi Arabia on March 9 and was admitted at a private hospital in Mangaluru on March 20.

The Dakshina Kannada district administration shared the details of the flights taken by the three patients who travelled from Dubai to Mangaluru. One of the patients, a man aged 47, arrived in the Air India Express (IX 814) flight at 5:00 am on March 19 while two other men, aged 32 and 23, arrived in Mangaluru in the Spicejet (SG-60) flight at 5:30 pm on March 20. The other patient is a 70-year-old woman who travelled from Saudi Arabia to Kozhikode by flight.
24/03/20 Prajwal Bhat/News Minute

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113 stranded Indians in Malaysia flown back to Chennai

Mangaluru: Ordeal for 113 stranded transit passengers at Kuala Lumpur International Airport ended when a special Air Asia flight (AXM 13) departed Kuala Lumpur for Chennai at 9.30pm (Malaysia time) and landed at Chennai at 10.35pm (IST). These included 111 passengers stranded at Kuala Lumpur International Airport terminal 1 and rest from KLIA terminal 2. This is the third batch of stranded transit passengers to make it to India from Malaysia.

Air Asia had recently operated special flights from KLIA to Visakhapatnam and New Delhi carrying stranded transit passengers. The ministry for civil aviation too had permitted Air Asia to operate empty special flights from Malaysia to India to ferry stranded Malaysians back home. Post this special flight, around 300 Indians continue to be stranded in Malaysia and they have been accommodated in gurudwaras and other Indian community halls.

Esther Padma, an aide to Malaysian minister told TOI that passengers from various states at KLIA 1 were shifted to KLIA 2 from where the flight departed. With Malaysian government already having implemented movement control order (MCO) there, it will be some time before other stranded Indians – including Mahima Gupta and Navin Mallya, medical interns from Kasturba Medical College, Mangaluru can pack their backs and head back home.
23/03/20 Jaideep Shenoy/Times of India

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Crew operating int’l flights to India must fill self-declaration forms, be screened: DGCA

New Delhi: Airline crew members operating international flights into India also need to submit self-declaration form and be screened. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday issued guidelines for such crew members based on a protocol of the health ministry.

“Crew has to fill self-declaration forms, similar to passengers. Crew needs to present self-declaration forms to health authorities and clear health screening at airports (Indian airports on arrival). If a crew arrives in India, with symptoms, the crew has to declare the same to the Airport Health officials (APHO) and follow the isolation protocols as directed by the APHO,” the circular says.


“During the stay in India, if the crew develops any signs/symptoms of COVID-19. they should immediately inform APHO for isolation and testing. The airlines should take the responsibility of monitoring the health of the crew members during their stay at India. If a laboratory positive case of COVID 19 is found in a flight, the entire crew has to be de-rostered for minimum 14 days. The crew need to follow home-isolation during the time at their own country,” says the DGCA circular.
23/03/20 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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‘Fear of unknown makes flying challenging’

Flying in the face of an unknown predator as novel coronavirus infections spread across the world rapidly will remain one of their most challenging and stressful assignments, several Indian flight attendants told Mumbai Mirror on Tuesday.
The flight crews, who have been flying to international and domestic destinations through February and March during the pandemic, will finally get a much needed break from Tuesday midnight when India shuts down even domestic flights. A notification announcing the suspension of domestic flights
from March 24 midnight till midnight of March 31 was released by the government today.
“In 14 years of my flying career, I have never experienced anything like this,” said an Air India cabin supervisor who began her 14-day self-quarantine at her home in Delhi after flying on one of the last Washington-Delhi flights, which landed on Saturday. The embargo on all international flights came into place from 1.30 am on Sunday.
She said Air India being the national carrier was the only one flying daily on the US sector even as other international airlines had cut down frequencies.
“Most of the March flights were to bring back Indians who wanted to return home. We had received detailed SOPs on what to do on these flights. We had to wear given multiple pairs of face masks and surgical gloves through the entire 14-hour flights and sanitise hands frequently. We had to avoid any kind of contact with passengers, surfaces, especially while serving them,” she said.
She was on several flights to Singapore, Dubai and San Francisco. The San Francisco-Delhi flight brought back a plane full of Indian students and OCI cardholders on March 13 just before visa restrictions for OCI cardholders also came into place on March 13 midnight.
“Passengers from the western countries understood the seriousness of Covid-19 in comparison with Indians and many would simply avoid speaking to anyone. I remember a young girl student who didn’t eat a meal through the entire flight. She was carrying sanitiser wipes and refused anything that was not cleanly packed. When I tried to cajole her to eat something, she said she wouldn’t want to speak either,” she said.
24/03/20 Satish Nandagaonkar/Mumbai Mirror

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Aviation shutdown hits Indian exports

India’s decision to ban incoming international flights combined with the decision of many airlines to reduce passenger flights has come as a blow to Indian fresh produce exporters.

Because of the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak, India closed its airports to any international passenger aircraft on 22 March, a closure that will remain in place until 29 March at the earliest. Meanwhile, airlines across the world are “fighting for survival”, according to the International Air Transport Association.

This has all contributed to significant disruption for Indian fresh fruit and vegetable exporters. According to a report from Business Line, shipments are down by around 25 per cent in recent months as a result.

Sources at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry told Business Line demand hasn’t decreased but exporters do not have capability to ship their produce.

“Orders are there, but the exporters are unable to ship because very few flights are operating. Also, there is no adequate cargo space available on passenger flights and wherever space is available, the charges have been hiked,” the source said.
24/03/20 Fruitnet

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India allows Dutch jet after coronavirus confusion strands passengers

The Hague: A group of more than 100 passengers stranded at Amsterdam's airport aer their flight to New Delhi turned around midair due to confusion over coronavirus rules finally departed for India on
Sunday, oicials said.
Because of the pandemic, India has imposed a bar on flights from Europe and from Sunday a oneweek complete ban on all incoming international commercial flights comes into force.
The KLM flight carrying around 120 passengers le Amsterdam's Schiphol airport late Friday but
had to make a U-turn over Russia mid-flight aer being told by India to return to its point of
departure.
"Today a group of stranded travellers from India have le from Schiphol to go home," said Hans
Leijtens, the head of the Dutch Royal Military Police, which deals with borders.
"Good work by the Royal Military Police, KLM, Schiphol and other organisations involved in
receiving and taking care of the group in recent days," he said on Twitter.
KLM confirmed the flight was leaving, saying it was a "result of consultations between various
authorities", the Dutch news agency ANP reported.
The passengers included a pregnant woman who needed medical treatment on returning to
Amsterdam.
Most were forced to camp out at the airport while the problem was resolved as the Netherlands
also refused to grant them entry -- most had been transit passengers from the US and Canada.22/03/20 Deccan Herald

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India's move to cancel foreign flights will lead to cancellation of 700 flights a week

New Delhi/Mumbai: As India closes itself for all international flights till end of March and starting early morning on Monday, the period will see cancellation of about 700 flights a week, including both foreign and Indian carriers. The impact will, however, be felt more by foreign airlines, as Indian carriers had already cancelled a large number of flights to international destinations.
The government on Thursday said no scheduled international commercial passenger aircraft will be allowed to land in India from March 22 for one week. The ban is only on commercial passenger aircraft and not on aeroplanes carrying freight.
“With this order, about 100 international flights daily which are being operated as on date, will be cancelled,” said a senior government official, who did not want to be identified.
Prior to the Covid-19 virus outbreak, which has led to the cancellation of various flights across the globe, India used to receive about 300 international flights daily.
This has now reduced to 100 after India banned the entry of people from 31 countries in Europe and the United Kingdom early this week.
23/04/20 Mihir Mishra/Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times

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International cargo ops to continue: DGCA

New Delhi: To maintain international commercial links, Centre has kept the freighter operations free from any restrictions.

According to the aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), there are no restrictions imposed on domestic and foreign air operators for carrying out cargo operations.

“Currently, there are no restrictions imposed on domestic or foreign air operators for carrying out cargo operations at any airport in India. All stakeholders kindly note,” the DGCA tweeted on Monday.

However, all international passenger flights have been prohibited to land in India from Sunday till a week’s time to contain the spread of COVID-19.
23/03/20 Can India

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Flier recounts moments after landing in Calcutta

Calcutta: Shrenik Avlani, who arrived from Bangkok to Calcutta early on Sunday on one of the last international flights to the city, recounted his experience to The Telegraph. The Centre has banned all international flights to India from March 22 for a week

There was no seizing of passports or baggage in the empty international arrivals hall of Calcutta airport when one of the last international flights — Thai Airways flight TG313 from Bangkok — landed around 12.20 am. The passengers, normally in a rush, were calm and got out of the aircraft in a surprisingly orderly manner. The exit was smooth and everything looked normal till the passengers were stopped before reaching immigration.

Four to six people in masks, protective eyewear and scrubs, complete with gloves, asked the passengers to form a queue in front of an instrument that looked like a camera with a spout. The man operating the instrument called the passengers to stand in front of it one by one, while the rest of the men in makeshift hazmat suits kept an eye on the passengers. Two of them collected the ministry of health and family welfare’s self-reporting form for all international passengers, while asking the passengers to stay far away from them.

Once past this, the passengers were stopped by the airline staff at the point where the immigration queue begins. After about 20 minutes, they let the passengers queue up at the immigration counter, where most immigration officials asked the passengers to leave their passports and boarding passes at the counter and move back and stand at the yellow line about 8feet away.
23/03/20 Shrenik Avlani/Telegraph

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All Sri Lankan Buddhist pilgrims stranded in India repatriated

Colombo: All Sri Lankan Buddhist pilgrims who were stranded in India have now returned to Sri Lanka, the Foreign Relation Ministry said.

The last group of 48 Buddhist pilgrims have been brought back in the last SriLankan Airlines dedicated flight that departed New Delhi at 05:10 hrs. Sunday (22) before India closed its airports for inward commercial passenger flights.

Earlier in the day, another dedicated SriLankan Airlines aircraft that left Chennai at 03:00 hrs. brought 97 Buddhist pilgrims to Colombo, making a total of 145 pilgrims returning to Sri Lanka on 22 March.

On 21 March, a total of 298 pilgrims left New Delhi by SriLankan Airlines flight UL196, which departed Indira Gandhi International Airport at 19:31 hrs.

By the time the Government of Sri Lanka announced a temporary closure of airports in Sri Lanka for inward commercial passenger aircraft, there were approximately 1500 Sri Lankan Buddhist pilgrims in India. Since then, all these pilgrims left India, earlier by scheduled commercial flights and later by dedicated SriLankan Airlines aircraft that were operated to bring back stranded pilgrims.
23/03/20 ColomboPage

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All Domestic Flights Banned from Today Midnight Till March 31 to Control COVID-19 Spread

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has announced that no domestic commercial airlines shall fly with effect from the midnight that is 11:59 pm on March 24 till the midnight of March 31. Airlines have to plan operations so as to land at their destination before the given time on the given date. The restrictions, however, shall not apply to cargo-carrying flights.
Ahead of this, several airlines in India had temporarily suspended their international operations in light of the pandemic. In order to effectively tackle the situation, several countries have sealed their borders and implemented travel restrictions.
Several airlines have also approached the government seeking relief packages to minimise the blow. Sources close to the matter suggest that the relief package in question includes a waiver of landing and parking charges and payment to oil marketing companies, a limited period concession of the standing rule of slot allocation, which mandates that firms must operate at least 80 per cent of their allocated slots. As airlines suffer from lesser flights, a recent study by global aviation consultancy service provider CAPA has stated that most of the airlines around the world will face bankruptcy if the government does not intervene.
23/04/20 Zeba warsi/News18.com

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KLM flight finally lands in Delhi, passengers share video

New Delhi: A day after being denied permission to land in India, a KLM flight with 113 Indians who were stranded in Amsterdam landed in New Delhi on Sunday evening.

The passengers shared a video of their arrival.

Government sources had on Sunday indicated that a special KLM flight stuck in Amsterdam with 100 Indian nationals will be allowed to enter India on Sunday as a special case.

The Indians, returning from the US, had been stranded in Amsterdam''s Schipol Airport for four days with food or water or place to sleep after their flight was turned back mid-air two hours away from Delhi airport.
23/03/20 IANS/Outlook

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More special flights planned to evacuate Malaysians from India

New Delhi: Malaysia is waiting for the Indian government’s permission to organise six more special flights to evacuate hundreds of Malaysians stranded in India while 372 flew out of Tamil Nadu on two chartered planes on Saturday night.
One AirAsia plane carried 186 passengers from Chennai and an equal number left on another flight from Tiruchirappalli.

“The priority was given to women, children and those unwell. We received approval for these two flights on Saturday and we assisted those requiring urgent evacuation. There are still hundreds of people waiting in Chennai and Tiruchirappalli for evacuation,” a person from the Malaysian consulate in Chennai told Bernama.

“Only those who came to India with return tickets issued by any airline were allowed on the two chartered flights,” he said.

There are four more such flights planned to evacuate Malaysians stranded in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, while Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has applied for permission to evacuate passengers from Chennai early on Tuesday and plans one flight from Mumbai on Wednesday afternoon.
22/03/20 Borneo Post

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Stranded at airport, passenger recalls how virus ruined vacation amid Covid-19 travel restrictions

Mumbai: I had expected the funniest moment of a bizarre vacation to take place preferably in a Woolworths store in Sydney and ideally in the toilet paper aisle. Strangely and somewhat alarmingly, it had taken place surrounded by luxury perfumes in Singapore’s Changi Airport on Wednesday evening when a fellow stranded middle-aged passenger I won’t identify chose the wrong moment and words to try and lighten the mood. “Ab toh Sushma Swaraj bhi nahi hai humko bachane ke liye,” he said, laughing alone.

It is perfectly normal for an Indian citizen stuck abroad to invoke the late external affairs minister when his government can’t make up its mind about whether or not to allow him to return home.

For half a week before we had cut short our three-week trip, my mother and I had gawped at supermarket shelves devoid of toilet paper, serviettes and pasta among others, been taken aback at notices reminding customers to keep their hands on their wallets and not on fellow customers and had attended a baby brother’s wedding in a virus hotspot, all in a carefree manner that said – this will never happen to us.
22/03/20  Srinath Rao/Indian Express

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NAC halts flights to New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore

Kathmandu: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has postponed its regular flights to and from India’s New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore cities starting from March 22.

The national flight carrier said that a decision to that end was taken after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of India released information, regarding regular flights having been halted to those destinations till March 29 in response to COVID-19.

Passengers who have tickets for the canceled flights are eligible for a full refund with no extra charge, NAC said in a statement.
22/03/20 KHabarhub

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Stranded Indians face hygiene issues at KL airport

Mangaluru: With a 10-day lockdown on international flights coming into India, announced by the government to combat coronavirus getting under way on Sunday, hope for more than 250 Indians stranded at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Malaysia is fast receding. With reports of Malaysia looking to deploy its military to enforce a total lockdown emerging, the plight of those stranded at the airport is going from bad to worse.
Those stranded included Mahima Gupta and Navin Mallya, two medical interns who had travelled to Malaysia for an internship. The stranded passengers are making all-out efforts to draw the attention of the authorities– both in Malaysia and in India—through a WhatsApp group – Fly2India Stuck ppl in KL. People have been sharing their tales of suffering through voice and video messages, while hoping for some positive news.
The main thrust of the group has been to ensure that their news surfaces in all major media – print and electronic—in their respective states – so that pressure is maintained on authorities and elected representatives for a workable evacuation plan.
Helping them are their contacts, friends and relatives, who are actively sharing their videos with the media to ensure that they are not forgotten, while they keep updating themselves of developments there.
22/03/20 Jaideep Shenoy/Times of India

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263 Indian evacuees from Italy arrive in special Air India flight

A special Air India flight with 263 Indian evacuees from Italy landed at the IGI Airport in the national capital on Sunday. All the evacuees will be thermally scanned and then taken to the ITBP Chhawla Quarantine Facility in Delhi. The special Boeing 787-Dreamline, with 12 crew members, departed from Delhi at 2.30pm on Saturday and left Rome on Sunday morning.
A week before, over 450 Indians, including students, stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran and Italy were brought back by two flights and quarantined at separate facilities. A total of 218 Indians, mostly students, from Milan landed last Sunday. More than 230 Indians brought back from Iran reached New Delhi at about 3:15 AM and were quarantined at the Indian Army Wellness Centre in Jaisalmer. They had arrived in Delhi on a Mahan Air flight from Tehran and were ferried by two Air India flights to Jaisalmer.
The same week, the Centre had also banned all international flights from the country for one week from Sunday. “No scheduled international commercial passenger aircraft shall be allowed to land in India from March 22, 2020, for one week,” the government said in a statement. “As such, no incoming scheduled international commercial passenger aircraft shall be allowed to disembark its passengers on Indian soil.”
22/03/20 The Week

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Let people flying into Delhi from abroad take connecting domestic flights, Govt orders airlines

New Delhi: International passengers flying into India on Saturday faced trouble in being cleared by airlines for taking connecting domestic flights to their hometowns. Later in the day, health authorities and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had to direct airlines to allow them to fly to their home cities and get quarantines there.

Health authorities issued an advisory, asking all “airlines not to trouble home quarantine passengers and allow them (to) fly.”
“It is brought to the notice by doctors working for screening of passengers for COVID-19 travelling from abroad at IGI Airport, New Delhi, that airlines are refusing passengers to board for local/ national travel who are home quarantined. As per present (health ministry) instructions they can fly to their home and then quarantine (there) for 14 days. That's why at triage the health team are linking such passengers to the concerned states’ IDSP (integrated disease surveillance programme)… it is advised to all airlines not to trouble home quarantine passengers and allow them (to) fly,” says the advisory issued by Dr A K Gadpayle principal consultant ( DGHS) at IGI Airport.
21/03/20 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Amsterdam-Delhi Flight Makes U-Turn As India Denies Permission To Land

New Delhi: A KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Amsterdam-Delhi flight with 90 Indians on board was forced to return on Friday amid scare over coronavirus or COVID-19 after civilian aviation authorities in India made it clear that it would not be permitted to land, sources have told NDTV. The KLM fight - KL0871- did not have an approved flight plan, according to officials in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
An airline has to file a plan, get it approved to mount a flight. But in India's case, flights from the European Union nations are already banned since March 18. The KLM Royal Dutch Airlines violated the guidelines by operating the Amsterdam-Delhi flight on Friday, said sources.

Earlier this week, India had extended travel ban to the European Union nations as coronavirus cases rose sharply in Italy, Spain among other countries. Italy has reported maximum COVID-19 deaths in the world (3,407), surpassing death count (3,254) in China, where the highly contagious illness originated about three months ago.

About 90 Indians - many of whom had sent anxious messages with a hope to return home - were on board the plane.

Sunday onwards, no international flights will be allowed to land in India for a week, the government said on Thursday as it escalated measures to fight coronavirus.

"No scheduled international commercial passenger aircraft shall take off from any foreign airport to land in India, from March 22, 2020 (05:30 hrs IST). These instructions shall remain in force till March 29, 2020," reads a circular by the DGCA.
21/03/20 Vishnu Som/NDTV

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ATF prices cut by 12% in India from March 21

In a major relief for airlines in the country, the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) has been reduced by 12% with effect from March 21. CNBC-TV18 was the first to report the reduction in prices, which is now reflecting on the Indian Oil Corporation website.

Traditionally, ATF prices are revised on the 1st of every month, hence the earlier revision took place on March 1. However, airlines have been requesting the government to revise oil prices on a weekly basis so that they can benefit from the decline in global oil prices.
In India, expenses towards ATF is the largest expenditure on the balance sheet of airlines, constituting almost 35-40 percent of total spend.

As of March 1, one kilolitre of ATF was available in Delhi at Rs 56,859.01 and in Mumbai for Rs 56,400.74. Similarly, the price of one kilolitre ATF in Chennai was at Rs 58,875.63 and Rs 62,160. 48 in Kolkata. These prices has been reduced by 12 percent from March 21.

The move will lead to some relief for domestic airlines as revenues have been severely impacted due to weak demand amid the coronavirus pandemic. Currently, most international operations have been suspended as a result of visa advisories and travel restrictions.
21/03/20 Defence Aviation Post

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200 Indian students stranded at Kazakhstan airport

New Delhi: At least 200 Indian students wishing to return home have been stranded at the airport in Kazakhstan for the last three days.

A group of medical students, studying in various universities in different cities of Kazakhstan, have shared a video through online private messaging groups, pleading the Indian embassy to help them return to India.

One of the students leading the group, revealed that they had contacted an airlines for their return but the airlines is still awaiting permission from the Indian embassy. "We are not getting any help from the embassy", the student in the video said.

Kazakhstan, the student said, like all other countries is shutting its borders from March 23 for around a month. "We don''t want to get stuck here for a month. We request the Indian government to help and evacuate us from here," the student said.
21/03/20 IANS/Outlook

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Stranded Dubai-based Indian teen finally returning home

Dubai: Dubai-based Indian teen who had been stranded at Frankfurt Airport in Germany for over 24 hours, was finally returning home in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), her parents have confirmed.

Indian expats and long-time Dubai residents Arshad and Urvi Zaheer said their daughter Miha Zaheer, 18, a first-year student at University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, will board a flight from Frankfurt to Dubai, they told Gulf News on Friday.

Gulf News had earlier reported Miha was stranded at Frankfurt Airport after she was not allowed to take the connecting flight to Dubai due to entry restrictions in the UAE.

"We got a call from a UAE-based airlines in Frankfurt that our daughter Miha has been accepted on the flight and they are bringing her to Dubai," said the parents.


"We sincerely thank the airline, the UAE authorities and the Consulate General of India in Dubai and Frankfurt for patiently hearing us out and helping us in these very helpless and challenging times."

Miha had to travel to Dubai after her university was locked down as a preventive measure against the spread of the coronavirus and all students were asked to return to their respective homes.

Her parents further told Gulf News that they "did not mind putting her under strict quarantine once she arrives" in Dubai.
21/03/20 IANS/India Today

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Students stranded in London as UK cancels flights citing India ban

Hyderabad: Hundreds of Indian students, including 50 from Hyderabad, were left fretting and fuming on Friday as airlines in the United Kingdom made last-minute cancellations citing flying restrictions in India on account of coronavirus scare. These students had booked tickets to head back home.
Many of them who headed to the Gatwick Airport were informed by Emirates Airlines that it would not be able to fly them to India. “We heard Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address on Thursday and believed we had time to return till March 22. Accordingly, we bought tickets which cost a bomb but on reaching the airport, we were denied boarding. We were told we would not be able to fly out after March 18 because of restrictions,” a student from Hyderabad told TOI from London.
These students are studying in various universities in the UK. They went to the High Commission of India (HCI) in London and narrated their tales of woe. The embassy officials provided them food but told them that they would not be able to fly back to India with travel restrictions in place.
One of the students said they had also contacted AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi for help. “We cannot be stuck in London because of the spread of coronavirus. A special flight should be arranged for us so that we can return to India,” Mirza told TOI.
21/03/20 Ch Sushil Rao/Times of India

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'We don't want to be abandoned': India grounds flights, leaving Vancouver family stranded

Vancouver: A Vancouver family stuck half a world away from home has been spending the last few days on the phone trying to get a flight back to Canada.

On Saturday, they received news that another booking had been cancelled.

“We got a notification that tomorrow's flight had been cancelled -- just no flights leaving, no flights coming in,” Parinaaz Udwadia told CTV News over Skype from Mumbai.
The family left Vancouver on March 7. Before they left, Udwadia said, they did their due diligence by ensuring there were no travel advisories. She said their airline reassured them that the trip would not be impacted.

The family went to India to celebrate a cousin's wedding and a grandmother’s 100th birthday.

“Because of the reasons we were coming here, we decided to take a chance," Rishad Udwadia said. "Hindsight is 20/20, but honestly, we didn't think it would be like this."

The Udwadia family has so far booked three different flights home - with Air France, KLM and Delta - and each time, the flights have been cancelled.
21/03/20 Angela Jung/CTV News

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Over 100 Indians stranded at Amsterdam airport seek government intervention

New Delhi: Close to 100 Indian nationals stranded at Amsterdam airport amid coronavirus scare have urged the government to rescue them alleging that authorities did not allow their flight to land when it was just two hours away from New Delhi airport. A passenger also questioned why flights were being flown empty when there are passengers ready to embark.
A Twitter user by the name of Manju Pagarani expressed her anguish in a tweet on empty flights being flown to New Delhi leaving behind Indian passport holders stranded at the Amsterdam airport.

"This is our third day being stranded at the Amsterdam airport. We got to know that a flight is flying to New Delhi to bring travellers back to the Netherlands who are stranded in India. But that flight is flying empty and could have taken the Indians along who are stranded here at Amsterdam. We have been told that the Indian government will send a special flight for us. But why send a special flight when a plane is already flying from here to New Delhi," she said.

Pagarani urged the government to allow them to embark flights which are headed for New Delhi.

Tina Sapra, wife of a passenger who is also stranded at Amsterdam airport has written to the Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri pleading to help her husband and other stranded at the Amsterdam airport, reported IANS.

"My husband is among 100 others passengers in Amsterdam, Netherlands, where they have been stranded. They were turned back mid-air when the flight was just two-hours away from the Delhi airport. All these passengers, which include pregnant women and senior citizens, are Indian passport holders," Sapra told IANS.

Detailing on the ordeal faced by her husband and other co-passengers, Tina said the outbound flight from Chicago with thoroughfare to India was booked within advisory period, but the flight from Amsterdam to Delhi was redirected.

She added the officials at the Delhi airport allegedly suspected the origin of this flight was from Europe.

"This has led to an emotional turmoil, confusion, stress and undue personal hardship. There is no helpline or senior official to address our grievance," Sapra said.
21/03/20 Times of India

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