While three flights will leave from Goa, two flights each will leave from Mumbai and Delhi.
Even as the coronavirus cases rise in the United Kingdom, the British government is all set to evacuate its nationals from India with seven charter flights being announced from Goa, Mumbai and Delhi. While three flights will leave from Goa on April 8, 10 and 12, two flights each will leave from Mumbai and Delhi this month.
There are over 42,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom with over 4300 deaths.
The Acting British High Commissioner to India Jan Thompson in a statement said, “I hope this announcement will bring relief, especially to those in greatest need. Due to the large numbers of British travellers involved, the scale of this operation is huge. The UK Government continues to work hard with our Indian counterparts in New Delhi and London to arrange a safe journey back for as many people as possible.”
Of about 35,000 British nationals in India, over 20,000 want to return home immediately.
Earlier on Saturday, an Irish flight carrying the vulnerable British nationals left Goa.
Tariq Ahmad, British Foreign Office Minister of State, had said that the government would fly charter flights to evacuate its citizens as all commercial flights are closed till April 14 due to nationwide lockdown in India.
“In the absence of commercial flights, these first charter flights from India should provide relief to some of our British travellers who are desperate to return home, especially for the most vulnerable and those in greatest need,” he said.
Several countries have evacuated their respective citizens from India amid in the lockdown. Among those evacuated include citizens of Russia, Germany, France, Afghanistan and Israel.
Global travel restrictions due to COVID crisis has put many many nationals of foreign countries stranded in several parts of the world. India evacuated more than 2500 of its nationals from 4 countries--China, Japan, Iran and Italy.
The number of coronavirus cases worldwide crossed 12 lakh on Sunday as the death toll neared 65,000.
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