Indian expats in the Gulf get another opportunity to travel back home on repatriation

Indian expatriates from the Gulf who wished to go home will have another limited widow of opportunity to travel on repatriation flights during the six days early next month from August 1-6.

This was confirmed by the India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation in New Delhi on Sunday. This will be the fifth phase of repatriation of overseas Indians with a limited schedule of flights on the Indian national carrier Air India, reported the Emirates News Agency (WAM), after air travel was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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However, during this fifth phase of the “Vande Bharat Mission” repatriation program, the flights will operate to destinations which were not included in the previous phases, representing an expansion in repatriations, according to WAM.

In the UAE, these flights will pick up Indians from Sharjah and also bring back passengers of certain categories from India to Sharjah.

Read more: Coronavirus: India begins historic evacuation mission with two flights from UAE

In addition to Sharjah, the other three airports in the Gulf will be Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.

According to Indian Civil Aviation officials, a more detailed schedule, including flights by other Indian carriers such as Air India Express and some private airlines in Phase V, is being finalized and is expected to be released before August 1, when the new schedules go into effect.

Air India clarified that domestic flights announced late sunday as part of the Phase V repatriation schedule will not accommodate domestic passengers. They are meant exclusively for arrivals on “Vande Bharat” repatriation program to be connected to destinations within India.

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