KOCHI: The ongoing evacuation of Indian expats from West Asia as part of ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ on Friday — the second day of the mammoth exercise — saw an Air India flight and Air India Express flight from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, respectively flying in a total of 329 Indian nationals to Kozhikode and Kochi airports.
The Air India flight from Riyadh, with 152 passengers, including 84 pregnant women on board, touched down at Kozhikode airport around 8.45 pm. The passengers also included those hailing from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Since the flight arrived with 84 pregnant women, the Malappuram district administration stationed a medical team led by a gynaecologist on standby at the airport. Most of the passengers on the flight were from Malappuram. “Only pregnant women and children were sent to home quarantine. The rest were placed in institutional quarantine in the districts concerned,” said a police officer.
At the time of going to the press, the Air India Express flight from Bahrain which took off from Bahrain airport at 8.00pm, is expected to arrive in Kochi at 11.30pm. Of the 177 passengers on board, 30 were pregnant women. However, there were only four medical emergency cases among those on the flight from Manama. If 73 Thrissur residents were there on Thursday’s flight, 37 persons from the district are among the passengers on Friday.
A Madurai native and three from Bengaluru were also among the passengers. Like on Thursday, passengers were subjected to a similar procedures before they were allowed to board. Only those who tested negative in the rapid test were allowed to board. The procedure was repeated upon arrival. Minister for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri appreciated the dedication shown by the Air India Express crew during the emergency evacuation. “Even in these extraordinary times, Air India Express Abu Dhabi-Kochi flight crew’s response to the call of duty is exemplary. Kudos to their spirit and dedication,” tweeted Puri.
Air India flight from Riyadh, with 152 passengers on board, touched down at Kozhikode airport
around 8.45pm