The second special repatriation flight, to Chennai, again carrying 177 passengers is all set to receive distressed passengers.
After a successful day one, the journey home for stranded Indian citizens continues. The second special repatriation flight, to Chennai, India, again carrying 177 passengers is all set to receive distressed passengers.
The first flight to Chennai, has been delayed to take off at 8pm instead of 2.45pm as told earlier, a Consulate official said
On Friday, May 8, two special repatriation flights will be taking off to Chennai, one at 8pm and the second one at 9pm.
A few passengers were not informed of the change in timings and turned up at the airport as early as 11 am to the Dubai International Airport Terminal 2.
Some passengers, including a pregnant school teacher,Prathipa Rajadurai, had travelled all the way from Ajman with her husband Sabareesh Durairaj. However, it is only when they reached the airport, they realised the flight has been delayed. Prathipa said, “I am five months pregnant. I have cancelled my visa, and I want to go back home to deliver my first baby.” Sabareesh hopes the crisis will subside in two months and he can join her. He said, “Eventually, I will bring them back.”
India on Thursday launched a massive repatriation operation for distressed citizens with two flights that carried 363 people from the UAE to Kochi and Kozhikode. Distressed passengers including medical cases, pregnant women, workers who suffered job losses were among the first to be in the return flight home.
All the air evacuation is being done under India’s ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ and as announced these are 64 ferry services which will be operated from May 7-13 and is billed as one of the biggest air evacuation missions by any country. The Indian repatriation, billed the largest civilian operation in the world, will continue for two weeks.
Sabarinathan and Veeramani, two blue collared workers, who had registered on the Indian Consulate portal for emergency repatriation said they haven’t been selected for travel yet. However, they are hoping they would be in the coming flights to Chennai. Sabarinathan said, “I work in a shop in Deira. I am worried, I will get sick. My wife is also pregnant.” Veeramani has similar concerns.
“Even in these extraordinary times, their response to the call of duty and the determination of this AirIndia Express crew on the Abu Dhabi-Cochin flight, is exemplary,” said India’s civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
Jeyaprakash Chinnappan, 34, one of the first passengers to reach the airport is returning home since he lost his job due to the Covid19 Coronavirus pandemic. A technician in the construction industry, Chinnappan decided to register himself on the consulate website. He said, “There is no job on the sites. I have been simply sitting in our accommodation. It is better to go back to India. Maybe, if I find a job, I will come back to the UAE.”
