Flight with 118 stranded passengers from US arrives in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: A flight carrying 118 stranded passengers from the US landed at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad on Monday.

The special flight AI 1617, which is a part of the Vande Bharat Evacuation Mission touched down at the airport at 9.22 am.

The flight from the USA with 118 passengers on board flew via Mumbai, according to sources. This is the second International flight to have landed at Hyderabad airport, as a part of the Vande Bharat Evacuation Mission.

All passengers were thermally screened for any symptoms and necessary health protocols were also followed.

From the airport, they were shifted in specially arranged TSRTC buses to quarantine centers set up in hotels and resorts on the city outskirts. They have to stay at these centers for 14 days. They have to bear the expenditure from their own pockets.

Under Vande Bharat Mission, the government has announced to operate 64 flights between May 7 to 13 to bring home nearly 14,800 Indian nationals stranded abroad due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Out of 64 flights, Telangana will receive seven flights, two each from the USA and one each from Kuwait, UK, UAE, Philippines, and Malaysia. Two days ago, a flight from Kuwait with 163 passengers on board landed at the airport, most of whom were migrant workers. There were also twin infants in the flight.

External Affairs Ministry in a statement had earlier announced that around 15 flights will arrive in Kerala, eleven each in Delhi-NCR and Tamil Nadu, seven for Maharashtra and Telangana, five for Gujarat, three each for Jammu and Kashmir and Karnataka and one each for Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.