1,900 Indians stranded abroad to return to the city starting May 7

About 1,900 stranded Indian nationals are expected to fly back to the city starting May 7, as part of the Central government’s plan to evacuate citizens stuck abroad

About 1,900 stranded Indian nationals are expected to fly back to the city starting May 7, as part of the Central government’s plan to evacuate citizens stuck abroad amid Covid-19 pandemic.

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Total seven flights will land in the state through the week. On May 7, three flights will arrive at the city’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), with 800 passengers-- a special flight from London (250 passengers), a flight from Singapore (250 passengers) and one from San Francisco in the USA (300). The San Francisco flight, however, will further depart to Hyderabad.

The second day around 250 passengers from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and 250 from New York will land in the city.

The next day, a special flight will be departing from Chicago to Mumbai and Chennai and is scheduled to bring back around 300 stranded Indians. Further, around 200 Indian nationals from Dhaka (Bangladesh) and around 250 from Manila (Philippines) will be landing in Mumbai on the same day.

The seventh flight to the city will fly from London on the fourth day (May 10), with around 250 passengers. This will be the last set of stranded passengers to land at the CSMIA for the week.

The government had announced on Monday that they will be operating special flights to evacuate thousands of citizens stranded abroad. Hence, it had been compiling details of distressed Indians, making a list of people who should be prioritised on the initial round of evacuation flights. Other flights will be operating from New Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai.