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Coronavirus: First two flights of evacuated Indians likely to fly to Kerala

The evacuation is on payment basis and non-scheduled commercial flights would be arranged for air travel.

Indian missions in the UAE will coordinate one of the biggest evacuation operations of citizens, and will cull out the first list of distressed citizens to fly home on May 7, the Indian ambassador to the UAE Pavan Kapoor told Khaleej Times.

"We will make a flight manifesto and will decide who will go on which flight. The list will be made from those who are already registered on our website," said the envoy.

The government of India announced on Monday that it will be facilitating the return of Indian nationals stranded abroad on compelling grounds in a phased manner from May 7. The travel would be arranged by aircraft and naval ships.

Kapoor said the list of passengers will be given to Air India, which will issue tickets.

The evacuation is on payment basis and non-scheduled commercial flights would be arranged for air travel.

Kapoor said people can make payment either through the Air India website or at their city offices as is the norm while booking tickets.

"We have not done anything like this before. So, as the starting process, I don’t think we will have more than two flights on May 7."

The ambassador said they will see how it goes and make sure the systems are working fine before starting a full scale operation.

"We will need the complete support and cooperation of people to make this a success. I know people have been waiting for long. But we need to give priority to those in distress."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier said blue-collar workers will get the first seats in repatriation flights, as per Indian media reports.

The first two flights are expected to fly to Kerala as the Central government had earlier said that expats from Kerala would be the first ones to be brought since the state is well prepared to accommodate about 200,000 people at quarantine centres and hospitals.

197,000 Indians in UAE have registered for repatriation

Consul General of India to Dubai, Vipul, said a total of 197,000 Indians in the UAE have registered on the online portal collecting data of citizens wishing to travel home amid the Covid-19 pandemic. "The first flight will take off on May 7 from the UAE. We are working towards prioritising the passengers on a need basis. However, it is a complex decision-making process," said Vipul.

Those travelling first will include Indian workers in distress, medical cases, pregnant women, and a few on tourist and visit visas. Commenting on the payment for the evacuation flights back home, Vipul stressed these details would be released by the concerned departments in the Government of India later today (May 4).