What is the cost of flying back Mehul Choksi from Antigua?

The Bombardier Global 5000 jet that has reportedly been hired to bring back fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi from the Caribbean nation of Antigua costs about Rs 8.46 lakh an hour of flying for charters, private aircraft charter companies say. The Antigua Prime Minister was quoted as saying that the jet has already been sent to get Choksi, who is wanted by India to be tried in the Punjab National Bank fraud case, back.

Given that the flight to Antigua is about 16 to 17 hours from India, the charter would have cost Rs 1.35 to Rs 1.43 crore for the aircraft for a one-way journey. The charter cost for the aircraft alone for a return trip will cost between Rs 2.7 crore to 2.86 crore.

The charges will rise further by accounting for goods and services tax (GST).

In addition, the agency hiring the aircraft will have to pay $7,000, or about Rs 5,11,000 per country, that the aircraft flies as over flying charges.  The aircraft will have to pay for the fuel stop in Madrid which will increase the cost of the charter as handling charges at that airport will also have to be paid. Lastly, there will also be a daily halting, or parking, charges of about Rs 100,000.

Private aircraft charter operators say that normally it takes between four to five days to get all the permissions from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to allow a foreign private jet to land in and leave India. The general perception among private aircraft charter operators is that the Bombardier Global 5000 hired from Qatar Executive, a unit of Gulf carrier Qatar Airways, has not been hired by the government but by some agency familiar with air travel.

Moneycontrol contacted Qatar Airways for comment. The article will be updated with its responses.

Choksi, who was born in India, was captured in Dominica earlier this week after his family reported him missing from Antigua.

Indian authorities have filed charges against Choksi, founder of the Gitanjali empire, and nephew, Nirav Modi, and others in connection with their suspected involvement in fraudulent transactions that caused losses of about Rs 14,000 crore in PNB in 2018.

Both Choksi and Modi, who was arrested in London in 2019 and is resisting extradition to India in Uk courts, have said they did no wrong.

31/05/21 Ashwini Phadnis/Moneycontrol.com

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India-UAE flights: Emirates plane flies to Dubai with just 2 families on board

Amidst the travel ban due to rising Covid-19 cases in India, two families from the southern Indian state of Kerala arrived in Dubai from Kochi on an Emirates flight on Sunday.

According to Kerala-based Madhyamam, only two families arrived on the 360-passenger plane. The flight took off at 4am Indian time on Sunday and arrived in Dubai at 6am UAE time.

Although, UAE has placed a ban on passengers arriving from India, Indians with a Golden Visa are exempted from the suspension. Younus Hassan, chairman and managing director of Al Irshad Computers, a computer sales company, has a Golden Visa that allowed his family to travel.

Yunus’ wife Hafsa and his children Nihla Yunus, Nujum Yunus, Mohammad Hilal and Mohammad Hani Hamdan received the Golden Visa under his sponsorship and were on board. They spent Rs180,000 (Dh9,000) on tickets.

Nihla said the Emirates staff gave them a warm welcome. They travelled in economy class but were allowed to sit in any seat, including business class.

"We each had an air hostess to handle our affairs. They accompanied us up to the terminal and helped us take the Covid test as well. Normally, you should stand in the queue at the emigration counter. However, after asking us to sit down, the air hostess took our passports and completed the emigration process,” Nihla told Madhyamam.

31/05/21 Khaleej Times

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Next India repatriation flight lands in Darwin as Howard Springs exceeds 1,000 in quarantine

A Qantas plane evacuating Australians from India has touched down in Darwin — the third to arrive in the Top End capital since repatriation flights from the COVID-ravaged country resumed a fortnight ago.

Flight QF112 from New Delhi landed at Darwin airport at around 9:45am local time carrying 150 people

The passengers will soon be transported by bus to the Howard Springs quarantine facility, about 20 kilometres south-east of the airport.

Around 80 passengers who arrived in Darwin from India on May 15, on the first flight after the temporary suspension, completed their two-week quarantine period on Saturday.

Another 165 who arrived on a May 23 flight are still at the facility, along with almost 1,000 other international and domestic arrivals.

NT Health Minister Natasha Fyles  said she did not know whether any passengers who were meant to be on today’s flight had tested positive to COVID-19 prior to departure.

About 70 passengers scheduled to board the May 15 flight were bumped off it after either testing positive to COVID-19 or being close contacts of those who did.

Following the introduction of the more rigorous testing regime, only two passengers have tested positive to COVID-19 after arriving in Darwin.

“The measures that DFAT put in place prior to departure clearly have worked when you compare that to the flight before when we had over 50 people (test positive)," Ms Fyles said.

“So, we will continue to evaluate what was done and how we see those numbers coming through.”

Ms Fyles said more international repatriation flights were expected to arrive in Darwin this week.

“[International arrivals] will be kept very separate from those domestic quarantine people," she said.

31/05/21 Jano Gibson/ABC.net

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Mehul Choksi repatriation: Private jet at Dominica airport from India, confirms Antigua PM

Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne has corroborated the news that a private jet from India has landed at Douglas-Charles Airport in Dominica as fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi continues to be in detention of Dominica Police.

Speaking to a radio show in his country, Browne confirmed that India had sent a private jet to Dominica along with documents pertaining to the deportation of Mehul Choksi. Tweeting a picture of the jet, Antigua Newsroom posted, "PM confirms Private Jet in Dominica is from India."

Meanwhile, no immediate official confirmation came from the Indian authorities about it. A Qatar Airways private jet landed at the Dominican airport on Saturday, Antigua News Room reported, which led to conjectures about the deportation of Choksi, who was detained in the Caribbean island nation after his mysterious disappearance from neighbouring Antigua and Barbuda.

Browne told the radio show that the jet came from India carrying necessary documentation needed for the deportation of the businessman, the media outlet reported.

Publicly available data of Qatar Executive flight A7CEE shows that it left the Delhi airport at 3.44 pm on May 28 and reached Dominica at 13.16 local time on the same day, via Madrid.

The Dominica High Court has stayed the removal of Choksi from its soil and placed a gag order on the developments until the matter is heard in an open court on June 2

Choksi has alleged that he was abducted from Jolly Harbour in Antigua and Barbuda by policemen looking like Antiguan and Indian and taken to Dominica.

Purported pictures of 62-year-old Choksi that have surfaced in Dominica show him with a red swollen eye and bruises on his hands.

30/05/21 Business Today

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Bengaluru teen sues IndiGo for missing trip to Nasa, wins Rs 1.6 lakh relief

Bengaluru: A Bengaluru teenager who missed a dream trip to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) in the US due to ticketing issues has sued IndiGo airline in a city consumer court. The court recently ordered the airline to pay the youngster a compensation of Rs 1.6 lakh and a refund of his ticket with interest for ruining his chance of visiting the international space station.

August 10, 2019 was a big day for Munnekolala resident Kevin Martin, who reached Chennai airport to board an IndiGo flight to Delhi scheduled to take off at 6.30am. But much to the shock of the 18-year-old boy, IndiGo ground staff refused to let him board despite him holding a confirmed ticket, saying the flight was overbooked.

Martin, who was the 2019 Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) topper in Karnataka and stood second nationally, had bagged the trip to Nasa after winning the technothlon contest held at IIT-Guwahati. He was scheduled to fly out from Delhi on a Virgin Atlantic flight.

In Chennai, IndiGo staffers issued him a boarding pass with ‘zero’ printed in place of seat number and told him the flight was overbooked. Martin attempted to convince the staff and showed them the invitation papers from Nasa. He informed them that his scheduled flight to Baltimore in the US was to take off the same afternoon and he had to reach New Delhi on time in his pre-booked flight from Chennai. However, the staff offered him an alternative flight in the afternoon or evening, but that would have meant Martin missing his onward journey to the US. Sadly, the teenager was not allowed to board the flight.

He returned to Bengaluru and lodged a compliant with IndiGo. With the airline unable to come up with a convincing reply, Martin finally approached the Bangalore 1st Additional District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission on December 17, 2019 with a complaint against Inter Globe Aviation Limited, operators of IndiGo.

The Bengaluru teen presented the case through his lawyer, while the airline’s attorney claimed that the Bengaluru court didn’t have the jurisdiction to take up the case and that the complainant had suppressed material facts, including the fact that a boarding pass had been issued to him, but he failed to report at the gate. However, the lawyer admitted that the airline was fully booked and no passenger was willing to sacrifice a seat for the teenager, who also had a valid ticket. He was given a seat on another flight without any extra cost, but refused the offer and as per rules he was offered full refund for his ticket (Rs 8,605) and a compensation of Rs 20,000.

In court proceedings that lasted close to 16 months, the judges of the consumer forum slammed IndiGo for shattering the boy’s lifetime dream of visiting Nasa because of the ticketing chaos. The teen, it said, was a state topper and one of India’s best, who excelled at an IIT tech event and earned a trip to the celebrated US space agency. The forum observed that the airline had overbooked in this case and was expecting another passenger to sacrifice his seat, resulting in injustice to the boy, who was all set to take the connecting flight to the US, for which he arrived on time with a confirmed ticket.

30/05/21 Petlee Peter/Times of India

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Vistara receives first purchased A320neo aircraft from Airbus' production facility in France

New Delhi: Vistara on Saturday received its first purchased A320neo aircraft, powered by CFM International's LEAP engines, in Delhi from Airbus' production facility in Toulouse, France.

This will be the 46th aircraft to be added to its fleet. Out of 46, 43 are on lease while the rest have been purchased.

"It (the aircraft delivered today) is one of the 13 Airbus A320neo that Vistara had purchased in 2018 as part of a larger order totalling 50 aircraft from the Airbus A320neo family, including the Airbus A321neo aircraft as well," the airline's press release noted.

Vistara has seven A320ceo, 29 A320neo, two Boeing B787-9 and six Boeing 737-800NG aircraft in its fleet. Out of these, two B787-9 and one A320neo aircraft have been purchased and the rest are on lease.

"The new set of A320neo aircraft that Vistara has been adding to its fleet come with higher range capability (77 tonnes of maximum take-off weight), enabling the airline to fly longer regional international routes without payload restrictions," the statement noted.

The delivery is happening at a time when India and its aviation sector has been badly hit by the second wave of coronavirus infection.

29/05/21 PTI/Times of India

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Indian national not infected with COVID-19 at Changi Airport in Singapore: Health ministry

Singapore: A 32-year-old Indian national who arrived here on April 25 from Nepal could not have been infected with COVID-19 at the Changi airport as there is no phylogenetic link between her case and those infected in the airport’s Terminal 3 cluster, officials said.

Singapore’s health ministry said on Friday that its investigations have confirmed that there is no phylogenetic link between the Sonal Wadde case and those in the Changi Airport Terminal 3 cluster.

Phylogenetic testing helps to determine if infections are related.

Wadde, who arrived here as a dependant’s pass holder, had said that she felt safer in India, according to a report by The Straits Times.

The matter came to the fore after a screenshot of her response to a question on Facebook that she was infected “most probably” at Changi Airport circulated online.

“This was because two polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests I took before boarding the flight to Singapore and upon arrival had been negative,” she wrote in the comment section, which was picked up by several online news websites.

It is unclear when she posted the comment, or what question she was responding to, said the Singapore English daily.

“A negative pre-departure test or on-arrival test does not necessarily mean that a person is free from COVID-19, as one could be incubating the virus from an exposure prior to taking the tests,” the newspaper quoted the health ministry as saying.

The Changi Airport cluster is currently the largest active cluster with 108 cases linked to it as on Thursday.

Wadde is an imported case who was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on May 2, the ministry said, adding that she tested positive during her stay-home notice at a dedicated facility.

30/05/21 Daily Excelsior

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Emirates airline flights from India to UAE suspended until June 30

Emirates airline has extended its suspension on passenger flights from India until June 30.

Also, passengers who have transited through India in the past 14 days will not be accepted to travel from any other point to the UAE.

UAE citizens, holders of UAE Golden Visas and members of diplomatic missions are exempt from the restrictions but must comply with revised Covid-19 protocols.

The suspension will last two months at least and the decision is subject to review.

A number of Indians, however, have managed to enter Dubai on charter flights, despite the ban.

But last week the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority threatened to prohibit private jet operators from pooling charter flights between passengers, although family groups would still be allowed to hire jets.

Flights from India to the UAE were initially stopped on April 24 after a massive surge in Covid-19 cases in the subcontinent and the rise of the new B1617.2 variant.

30/05/21 National

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Could something like the Ryanair incident of May 16 occur in Indian airspace?

On May 16, a Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania was forcibly diverted to the Belarus capital Minsk. While the civil aircraft was flying through Belarus airspace, a fighter jet was sent to intercept it, claiming that there was a bomb threat on the aircraft. Once the plane landed in Minsk, all the bags onboard were checked but no bomb was found. All passengers except two - Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend - were allowed to board the aircraft which continued its journey to Lithuania.

The Ryanair case is unprecedented, but it does raise some concerns for countries across the globe, including India. See how >>

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DGCA extends ban on scheduled international commercial passenger flights until June 30

New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday extended the ban on international commercial passenger flights by one month till June 30, 2021. The ban has been in place since March 2020.

"In a partial modification of circular dated 26-06-2020, the competent authority has further extended the validity of circular issued on the subject cited above regarding Scheduled International commercial passenger services to/from India till 2359 IST of 30th June 2021," the fresh order reads.

However, this restriction will not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by the aviation regulator.

All scheduled international flights were restricted on March 23 last year in wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and continue to be banned. However, various international flights were operationalised under bilateral air bubble agreements that India signed with several nations for the unhindered movement of passengers.  

India has formed air bubble pacts with 27 countries including the US, the UK, the UAE, Kenya, Bhutan and France. Under an air bubble pact between two countries, special international flights can be operated by their airlines between their territories. However, a few countries like the US.

28/05/21 Aparna Deb/ETNowNews.com

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Bat forces Air India flight to return to Delhi after take off

Mumbai: A bat decided to hitch a free ride onboard an Air India flight to Newark, which had the pilots return to land back into Delhi about two hours after take off on Thursday.

The decision to carry out an 'air return due to sighting of bat' was taken about 30 minutes after flight AI-105 departed at 2.20 am, said a source. The aircraft then circled over for about two hours before it landed back into Delhi.

An Air India source said that the mammal was removed and the same aircraft departed at 6.37 am and landed in Newark at 11.30. (local time).

28/05/21 Manju V/Times of India

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Charter flight mix shifts from 70% domestic and 30% international to 50:50 for both during pandemic

New Delhi: The ongoing catastrophic Covid wave has seen a sharp rise in the number of private jets and charters being handled at Delhi Airport’s separate general aviation (GA) terminal that opened last September. Till the onset of the second wave, it used to handle over 20 flights a day but now this number is almost 50% higher at 35.

The reason: air ambulance movement, suspension of schedule commercial flights by some countries and the super rich preferring the safety and enhanced hygiene of leaving on their own jet plane instead of taking regular flights to places where this option is still available.

This is in sharp contrast to the massive fall in both domestic and international travellers that’s forced Delhi and Mumbai airports to handle all their passengers from one terminal only and mothball the others.

“India’s first exclusive GA terminal for private jets was opened last September. On an average it witnessed daily 35 aircraft movement (ATM) per day during April, 2021, as compared to 24 ATMs daily at the time of opening of the terminal. It saw about 1,000 aircraft movement last month,” said Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) in a statement. The airport operators added its GA terminal has handled over 100 air ambulance flights since last month, “contributing to the surge in demand.”

Rajan Mehra, CEO of Club One Air and former India head of Qatar Airways, said India has seen a significant growth in charter travel from last October 2020. While earlier charter business used to be 70% domestic and 30% international, the restrictions on foreign flights has changed that ratio to 50:50 now.

“The exclusive GA terminals at Delhi and Mumbai (airports) have incentivised several first time travellers to choose (charters). Passengers now want to avoid the crowds of terminal buildings and prefer the spaces available to them in private terminals. The new GA terminal at IGI Airport has been a game changer in these pandemic times.There are no queues, minimum interface with others and a very short distance to cover before they reach the aircraft,” Mehra said.

27/05/21 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Stranded Indian frontline workers request entry into UAE

Dubai: Indian frontline workers, who have contributed to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and are currently stranded due to the ongoing flight ban, have urged authorities for their return to the Gulf nation, a media report said on Thursday.

Currently, a number of UAE residents hailing from the Indian subcontinent are stranded in their home countries due to flight bans while they were on vacations, said The Khaleej Times report.

Residents, including healthcare workers, were on vacations in their home country when the UAE announced a travel ban on passengers from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal.

"I'm an employee, a frontline nurse in Dubai, working for a reputed hospital and serving people. I went to India on vacation on April 1 after successfully fighting the second wave of Covid-19 in Dubai. But I'm unable to fly back to Dubai," Sandhya, a registered nurse, told Khaleej Times.

Sandhya added that said she might lose her job if she doesn't return to the UAE on time.

Sanjeev Kumar, another UAE resident who works for a medical centre, is also stuck in India due to the flight ban.

27/05/21 Daijiworld

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Cathay Pacific Cargo airlifts three lakh COVID-19 testing kits from Portland to Mumbai

Cathay Pacific Cargo on Friday said it airlifted 3 lakh COVID-19 testing kits from Portland in Oregon to Mumbai in India for free. The shipment's BinaxNOW rapid COVID-19 test kits will be delivered to the Desai Foundation, an organisation that serves rural communities with health and livelihood programmes focussed on women and children in several states in India, the statement said.

"The Foundation will distribute the testing kits, which produce results in 15 minutes, to COVID care and isolation centres, hospitals and local health workers," it noted.

Cathay Pacific Cargo and logistics company Davis Trucking -- which partnered with the Oregon Health Authority and Department of Administrative Services -- offered their services free of charge for this shipment, it said.

India has been badly hit by the second wave of the coronavirus infection during the last couple of weeks. However, the situation is becoming better in most parts of the country as daily test positivity rate is falling.

The single day rise in coronavirus cases in India fell below the 2-lakh mark for the second time this month, while the recoveries continue to outnumber daily cases for the 15th consecutive day, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

28/05/21 PTI/Economic Times

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2,000 passengers travelled between UK and India in April – the month it was added to red list

Tens of thousands of people flew from India to the UK in April – the month it was put on the Government’s travel red list, according to new figures from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

A total of 42,406 passengers travelled to and from the UK and India last month, figures published today by the CAA show.

The CAA does not provide a breakdown of how many travelled each way but it is understood a majority of the journeys were people heading back to the UK because of India’s devastating second wave of coronavirus and the fact the country was put on the red list on 23 April.

One air industry source told i that at least two thirds of those passengers were likely to be people arriving into the UK which would be a figure of around 28,000.

The number is slightly down on March where the total figure was 54,994, but that is unsurprising as India was red-listed in April and less flights were scheduled.

In April 2020, at the height of the pandemic just 11,453 passengers flew to and from India however in April 2019 – in pre-pandemic times – 191,907 passengers went between the two countries.

A total of 824,712 people flew into and out of the UK in April, the CAA figures show.

Spring time is traditionally a busy time for travel to India as it is before the monsoon season starts in June, although a deadly second wave of coronavirus has ravaged the country in recent weeks making it the epicentre of the global pandemic.

28/05/21 Hugo Daniel/iNews

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Booked tickets for international flights? Air India offers charge waivers, rebookings

For passengers affected by International travel bans imposed by various countries on travellers from India, Air India has offered waivers to passengers. For passengers holding tickets for countries like US, UK, UAE, Singapore and other countries that imposed travel bans, the airline is offering waiver facilities.

“Due to continued impact of COVID-19 across the globe bringing uncertainty in travel plans,  Air India is offering various Waivers/flexibility to passengers who are holding tickets for international travel,” it tweeted on Thursday.

Among waivers and flexibility options offered by the airline include: Flexibility of Routing Change, Flexibility of Sector Change, Enhance Travel Validity, Waiver for Fare Difference and Change penalty, Flexibility of Cabin Change and Enhanced Refund Validity.

The waivers are applicable for tickets purchased for travel after May 4, 2021, till the time the entry requirements are relaxed. However, for passengers whose scheduled flights were cancelled, date of issue of tickets is impertinent, the airline said.

28/05/21 ETNowNews.com

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Travelling abroad? You may need a COVID vaccine passport

As nations prepare to open borders to international travellers, anticipating deeper global vaccination reach and a subsiding virus, the idea of COVID vaccine passport is gaining ground.

Governments are expecting travellers to provide proof of vaccination or a COVID negative report, before letting them in. The question is what will that proof be and how can technology assist or not assist in easing the process.

The world, especially the US, has been on the forefront of opening up economic and social activities after nearly 50% of its population received at least one COVID vaccine dose. The European Union (EU) too has decided it will allow vaccinated people to travel inside member countries. As a result, not just travel, but other economic activities like eating out, recreation, sporting events too have restarted. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) of US has gone to the extent of saying that vaccinated people do not need to wear masks and can venture out with ease.

The threat of COVID reappearing is palpable though, which has made the authorities in these countries to put a mechanism in place to check people for their vaccination and infection status.

As a step in this direction, US Federal officials have made it mandatory for US-bound international travelers to show proof of a negative COVID test result to board flights.

The US Department of Homeland Security stated that it does not want passengers’ COVID test results, but would expect airlines to bring up a check-up mechanism.

With the responsibility of checking passengers’ health records passed on to them, airlines companies, in turn, are asking passengers to upload health documents online.

Most governments the world over are issuing certificates to vaccinated people. Airlines won’t expect their staffers to have another traveler document to check. Therefore, such digitized health documents, which can be scanned easily, would come in handy.

28/05/21 The Federal

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Singapore Airlines not to go for M&A, Vistara investments to continue

New Delhi: In a further indication that Singapore Airlines will not join Tata Sons for the bidding of Air India, the company has said that it is not going to go for any merger & acquisition with the fund it has raised and instead will use it to shore up liquidity of the company. This comes as the process for financial bidding of Air India has started. Tata Sons with whom SIA owns and operates Vistara is one of the frontrunners to acquire the state-owned carrier.

The company however will continue to invest in Vistara and said that the airline’s fleet will grow to 70 by mid of 2023. Vistara currently has 47 planes with a mix of Airbus A320 family and Boeing 787.

“The reason we are proceeding with the Mandatory Convertible Bond programme (MCB) now is that the recovery forecast is still uncertain. It will be prudent for us to bolster our equity base. The other perspective we took in thinking around issuing the MCBs now is a multi-year view. How to build ourselves, what we need to do, what we need to invest in our core capabilities in order to emerge stronger from Covid-19 and take advantage of all the opportunities. There is no mention of use of proceeds for M&A,” Tan Kai Ping, Executive Vice President for Finance and Strategy at Singapore Airlines said.

He was replying to a question on whether the airline intends to use the proceeds from the fund raise to participate in the bidding for Air India.

SIA recently announced to raise $6.2 billion through a convertible bond issue. The offering constitutes the second tranche of its MCB programme, originally approved by shareholders on 30 April 2020, says SIA.

The fund raising follows $13.3 billion of liquidity raised during the FY 2020-21, during which the group suffered a record net loss of S$4.3 billion amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has crushed the aviation and hospitality industry across the world. SIA, which primarily depends on international traffic is impacted further as the Singapore government has been cautious about opening up borders in order to counter the pandemic.

27/05/21 Arindam Majumder/Business Standard

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Flight from India lands in Victoria hours before lockdown begins

The first repatriation flight from India to Melbourne touched down early on Thursday evening, several hours before the Victorian government’s seven-day snap lockdown begins.

About 150 people on Qantas QF112 flight from Delhi to Melbourne via Darwin landed at Melbourne Airport around 5pm, following an 18-hour journey.

Some of the travellers had been bumped off the first repatriation flight after returning a positive COVID-19 test from a laboratory that has since had its accreditation suspended following complaints about inaccurate tests.

Victoria had moved to shut its borders to international travellers during previous lockdowns, but acting Premier James Merlino said the scheduled repatriation flights from the COVID-ravaged country would not be cancelled. Nor would flights from other countries, with Victoria continuing to take 1000 people a week.

“We’ve got a responsibility and an agreement at a national level to support the repatriation of Australian citizens and residents,” Mr Merlino said. “They’ll be going straight through to hotel quarantine.”

The expat Australians arriving in Melbourne from India were required to return a negative result to a COVID-19 test administered once daily over three days in a quarantine hotel in Delhi. On arrival, they will enter hotel quarantine for 14 days.

27/05/21  Timna Jacks/The Age

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Sri Lanka lifts travel ban but restrictions on those who've been to India remain

Colombo: Sri Lanka on Wednesday announced the lifting of its temporary travel ban on inbound travellers from June 1, except for passengers who spent time in India during the last 14 days.

All incoming flights, however, will be limited to a maximum of 75 passengers and they will be subjected to a 14 day quarantine period.

"Any passenger with a travel history to India including transit in the past 14 days will not be permitted to arrive," the civil aviation office said in a statement.

Foreign nationals, seafarers, businessmen, investors and others are required to obtain approval from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to enter the island along with the entry visa.

A negative PCR test must be taken by all categories of travellers before departure point of origin as per airline or country requirements. And all passengers must adhere to the paid quarantine procedure. The Colombo airport was acting as a transit hub for Indians travelling to West Asia, but the facility was withdrawn in early May due to the current surge in the pandemic.

Before the current wave, Sri Lanka and India were making arrangements for a tourism travel bubble.

India remained Sri Lanka's top inbound travel market before the onset of the pandemic.

27/05/21 PTI/WION

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