On 17th April, the UK government announced 17 additional charter flights to repatriate those Britons stranded across different states of India. The FCO in collaboration with the Indian government had already previously scheduled 21 rescue flights from major Indian hubs such as Goa, Mumbai, Gujarat, Punjab, Delhi and Bengal. Now, as Indian government announced an extended lockdown with the country’s international borders sealed until 3rd May, UK has announced seventeen more charter flights with a total capacity of around 4000 passengers. Following is the schedule of the newly announced flights:
- Ahmedabad to London on 20, 22, 24, 26 April;
- Amritsar to London on 21, 23, 25 and 27 April;
- Bangalore (via Ahmedabad) to London on 23 April;
- Delhi to London on 21, 23, 25 and 27 April;
- Goa to London on 20, 22 and 24 April;
- Mumbai to London on 26 April.
The FCO had first announced a bailout package of £75 mn for the safe evacuation of the Britons stranded across the world. Government sources had initially estimated 25,000-30,000 Britons who were stranded in India wherein many were running out of prescribed NHS medicines, food shortages owing to the domestic lockdown in India. Over the last few weeks, the FCO in collaboration with India’s Ministry of External Affairs besides co-operation from state and central government has been successful in repatriating thousands of such British nationals. However, due to large numbers, many have complained about being put on waiting lists for their turn. Some have even raised their anxiety about the soaring ticket prices of the one-way journey going as high as £632 per ticket. To combat price hike, the UK Foreign Office is handing out temporary interest-free loans to these families which are repayable in six months timespan.
UK Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth, Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon said,
“We know this is a difficult time for British travellers and there is great demand for these flights. This is a huge and logistically-complex operation, and we are working tirelessly with the Indian Government and state authorities to help more British travellers get home.”
Vulnerable and elderly people are prioritised for seats on these flights. For registration please visit here: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/india/return-to-the-uk
