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Third phase of repatriation flights from the UAE to India to begin this week

In the next phase, 81 repatriation flights will be operated from May 26 until June 4

by Aarti Nagraj

May 25, 2020

The next phase of repatriation flights from the UAE to India will begin this week, officials have confirmed.

According to a tentative schedule released by the Indian Embassy in the UAE on Sunday, 81 repatriation flights will be operated from May 26 until June 4.

“Many new destinations [have been] added, other destinations will be added in due course in coordination with respective state governments,” the embassy said on Twitter.

The majority of the flights are set to fly to Kerala, with other destinations including Delhi, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Goa, Bengaluru and Coimbatore.

The first flight will take-off from Abu Dhabi to New Delhi on Tuesday.

Tentative schedule of additional flights(as on 24 May 2020) from the #UAE under #VandeBharatMission
Many new destinations added, other destinations will be added in due course in coordination with respective state governments.#WeShallOvercome @AmbKapoor @MEAIndia @cgidubai pic.twitter.com/dPaZlFP4KV

— India in UAE (@IndembAbuDhabi) May 24, 2020

The new flights come after roughly 6,000 Indian nationals were repatriated from the UAE in the first two phases of flights, from May 7-23.

Read: Eleven flights from UAE to India in second phase of repatriation

According to embassy officials, over 350,000 Indians in the UAE have registered for repatriation – accounting for 10 per cent of the 3.4 million diaspora.

Priority will be been given to those who lost their jobs, those on visit visas which have since expired, pregnant women, the elderly, those who require medical treatment in India, those required to return to India due to the death of a family member and students.

Air tickets are issued only to those registered on the official portal and who have been authorised by the embassy and consulate to fly home on these special flights.

Passengers will be subject to medical screening before boarding their flight and only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to travel. The cost of the flight ticket will have to be borne by the travellers.

Read: Video: First repatriation flights from the UAE to India take off