Special flight airlifts 125 Bahrain nationals from Pune airport

Pune: The Bahrain authorities airlifted its 125 nationals from Pune airport on Saturday. The operation began at 7 am with tourist buses and taxis carrying nationals

Pune: The Bahrain authorities airlifted its 125 nationals from Pune airport on Saturday. The operation began at 7 am with tourist buses and taxis carrying nationals from various parts of the city, mostly from Kondhwa, arrived at the Lohegaon airport.

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Speaking to HT, Ali Abdulla Al Noaimi, chargé d’affaires, Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain, New Delhi, said that the Kingdom of Bahrain supports India’s efforts to combat the pandemic.

“We had a list of all the Bahraini citizens who were staying in various parts of the country. Some were tourists, some seeking medical services, and most of the nationals were students. Under the leadership of our King His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa King of the Kingdom of Bahrain, His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, we planned a special flight Gulf Air GF7753 to expatriate the nationals back home. Across India, we had 167 nationals in cities like Pune, Delhi, Chennai, Kochy, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. We began contacting them over the past two weeks and then decided upon Pune as it had the largest contingency of nationals (126), who were mostly students, followed by Chennai which has 42 nationals for medical services,” said Ali Abdulla Al Noaimi.

According to the Bahrain official, one national from Pune developed high fever and was advised rest and could not board the flight.

With all the information in place, the Ministry in Bahrain arranged a special flight in accordance with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to arrive in Pune. The Consul General of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Mumbai, Ali Al Balooshi was in Pune to see to the travel safety of the nationals.

The pick-up began at 7 am in Pune, while several of the Bahraini nationals from other parts of the country, except Chennai, had already arrived three days prior and were staying in Hotel Taj Blue Diamond in Pune. The flight left Pune airport at 4.15 pm.

Kuldeep Singh, airport director, Pune, said, “All arrangements were made for thermal screening at DEP (departure) entry, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) protective gear, immigration, customs, tea-coffee snacks counter, sanitisation machine at DEP entry gate, frequent cleaning /sanitisation of the washrooms, markings for physical separation on the floor and on chairs. We opened only limited areas for the passengers’ movement to ensure focused cleaning. GF-7753, A321 departed for Chennai with 125 passengers at 0436 pm with one passenger with high temperature detained and referred to hospital.”