Vande Bharat Mission: 288 people stranded in USA, UAE land in Hyderabad

As many as 288 people stranded in USA and UAE arrived at international airport on board two Air India flights on Monday as part of off-shore evacuation drive of Indian Citizens under Vande Bharat Mission during COVID-19 lockdown.

While 118 people returned from San Francisco in US, or 170 came from Abu Dhabi, sources at GMR-led Rajiv Gandhi International Airport said. Air India flight AI 1617 from San Francisco via Mumbai landed in morning while AI 1920 at 8.50 pm, y said.

To facilitate arriving passengers and aircraft crew, airport has kept international arrivals and entire stretch right from aerobridge to arrivals ramp fully sanitised and fumigated. airport also enforced social distancing among passengers right from aerobridge to across terminal, sources ded.

All arriving passengers and aircraft crew were brought out from aircraft in a batch of 20-25 people each. Each passenger or crew member was screened by rmal cameras positioned at aerobridge exit under supervision of Airport Health officials (APHO) as per directives of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare prior to Immigration formalities. After health screening of passengers, CISF personnel in ir protective gears escorted group of passengers to immigration clearance, y said.