Those facing emergencies, students, pregnant women, elderly to get preference.
India is all set to run seven more flights to bring back home Indian nationals stranded in the U.S. due to the coronavirus pandemic in the second phase of its massive Vande Bharat mission.
As in the first phase, India’s national carrier Air India will run two flights each from San Francisco, New York and Chicago and one flight from Washington between May 19 and 29.
The flights will be going to Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Hyderabad and Kochi, according to a travel advisory issued by the Indian Embassy in Washington.
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Passengers will have to bear the cost of travel. One-way fare on the flights ranges between Rs. 1362 on the economy class, 3372 on Business and Rs. 5752 on First Class depending on the destination.
Since the number of seats on the flights would be limited, passengers with compelling cases will be given priority, and identified through an electronic random selection method, the embassy said.
These include those facing medical emergencies or requiring return due to bereavement in the family, students, pregnant women, elderly or those facing expiry of visas.
All passengers will be required to undergo medical screening before boarding the flight and only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to travel, the advisory said.
READ: First Air India evacuation flight from US to leave San Francisco on May 9 (May 7, 2020)
On arrival in India, all passengers will be medically screened and would have to download and register on Arogya Setu app. They will also need to undergo a 14-day mandatory quarantine on arrival in India in institutional quarantine facilities on payment basis.
Covid test would be done after 14 days and further action would be taken according to applicable health protocols.
All passengers will have to follow the protocols and procedures including Health Protocols issued by the US government on departure and by the Indian government authorities before, during the journey and on arrival in India. They will also be required to sign an Undertaking before boarding the flight.
Meanwhile, the US embassy in India advised stranded US citizens to take advantage of Air India flights going to the US to evacuate stranded Indian citizens. All US persons, including permanent US residents and Overseas Citizen of India (OIC) card holders are eligible to travel on these flights.
RELATED: Seven flights to airlift Indians from US in massive evacuation drive (May 5, 2020)
As part of India’s biggest ever evacuation exercise, which began on May 7, over 12,000 Indian citizens were brought back from 12 countries on 56 flights. In the second phase of the mission, 149 more flights will bring back Indians from 31 countries.
Here is the schedule of Air India’s US-India flights from May 19 to 29:
Sr.
No |
Date | Flight No | Origin | Dep. Time | Destination | Fare in US$ (Approximate)* | ||
First | Business | Economy | ||||||
1 | 19 May 2020 | AI 174 | San Francisco | 23:00 | Bengaluru & Hyderabad | 5752 | 3862 | 1432 |
2 | 21 May 2020 | AI 102 | New York | 11: 00 | Delhi & Chandigarh | 5612/ 5752 | 3372/ 3512 | 1362 / 1432 |
3 | 23 May 2020 | AI 174 | San Francisco | 23:00 | Kochi & Ahmedabad | 5752 | 3862 | 1432 |
4 | 25 May 2020 | AI 102 | New York | 11: 00 | Bengaluru | 5752 | 3512 | 1432 |
5 | 28 May 2020 | AI 104 | Washington DC | 23: 15 | Bengaluru & Ahmedabad | 5752 | 3512 | 1482 |
6 | 28 May 2020 | AI 126 | Chicago | 23: 25 | Delhi & Bhubaneshwar | 5612/ 5752 | 3372/ 3512 | 1362/ 1432 |
7 | 29 May 2020 | AI 126 | Chicago | 23: 25 | Ahmedabad & Hyderabad | 5752 | 3512 | 1432 |
*One-way fare mentioned above provided by Air India; and subject to change. Additional fare may be charged for domestic sectors.