Hyderabad: Over 600 foreigners depart from RGIA during lockdown

Hyderabad: The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport has so far served over 600 foreign nationals who repatriated by various special relief flights to countries viz., the UK, the US and Germany.

On Friday, the airport handled a special passenger relief flight of British Airways to repatriate UK nationals from the city. As per the flight itinerary, the special relief flight landed at 04.59 pm from Bahrain and departed at 06.46 pm with 136 UK nationals to Ahmedabad, from where a few more UK nationals joined it to be airlifted to Bahrain and then onwards to London.

SGK Kishore, the CEO of GMR Hyderabad International Airport (GHIAL) said, "The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has left many people stranded in various parts of the globe, away from their families and loved ones and there are many foreign nationals who have been stranded here in India.

We appreciate the efforts by the government to repatriate these stranded people and we are committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure a smooth and safe passage for these travellers.

Today, we have partnered with the British Deputy High Commission in Hyderabad and the Government of Telangana to support the operation of a special flight to evacuate UK citizens stranded in this region.

As always, Hyderabad Airport stands ready to do its duty in service of the nation and society and I would like to express my gratitude for the efforts by all involved including our staff, airport community members, the British Deputy High Commission and the state government officials who have been working for many days to ensure that today's flight could go ahead as planned despite the challenging circumstances"

Andrew Fleming, the British Deputy High Commissioner to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, said, "I am pleased to see over 130 British nationals and their close dependents from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on their way back home this evening.

We are extremely grateful for the support provided by both state governments and police departments, British Airways, staff at the Hyderabad airport for their fantastic support in making today's operation possible.

I am delighted we've so far been able to help more than 4,000 British travellers return home from across India."

Special screening and safety measures were in place during the flight's handling to protect against the COVID-19 threat including thermal screening prior to terminal entry, mandatory social distancing enforced through special queuing arrangements at all passenger processing points.