172 US & UAE Nationals evacuated from Hyderabad on 2 flights

  • 100 US nationals airlifted by an Air India Special Passenger Relief Flight
  • 72 UAE nationals airlifted by an Air Arabia Special Passenger Relief Flight

Hyderabad: The ongoing spate of Covid-19 is taking its toll across the globe, forcing India under lock-down. Despite these unprecedented situations, GMR led Hyderabad International Airport is operating round the clock in the service of the nation and on the humanitarian grounds to help stranded foreigners in Telangana State reach their homes through seamless handling of relief and evacuation flights.

Today, the Hyderabad International Airport handled two (02) Special Passenger Relief flights, which operated to repatriate the citizens of the United States of America (USA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Hyderabad city in Telangana State.

Air India Special Passenger Relief Flight for US Citizens:

The special passenger relief flight of the national carrier – Air India operated to repatriate a few US citizens from Hyderabad City. An Air India flight, which operated as a purely domestic flight – AI 1839(Arrival)/AI 1840(Departure) – arrived from Delhi landing at Hyderabad International Airport today at 05.50 PM. This aircraft departed with 100 US nationals to Delhi at 7.23 PM. As per the flight itinerary, the passengers of this flight were to be further airlifted by the United Airlines from Delhi to the US.

Air Arabia Special Passenger Relief Flight for UAE Citizens:

GMR Hyderabad International Airport handled another special passenger relief flight today, which was operated by the Air Arabia, which arrived from Sharjah via Cochin to Hyderabad to evacuate a few UAE citizens stranded in Hyderabad city. The Air Arabia flight, G9-426, landed from Cochin at Hyderabad Airport today at 7.35 PM and departed with 72 UAE nationals at 09.01 PM to Sharjah.

All these passengers of both the flights were serviced through the fully-sanitized Interim International Departures Terminal (IIDT) of GMR Hyderabad International Airport, which has been kept ready for evacuation operations. In coordination with the US consulate, Hyderabad; UAE Consulate, Hyderabad and the Telangana State government, the US and UAE citizens started to arrive at the airport from 3 PM to 4 PM.

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

To meet this emergency requirement, a select group of personnel from GHIAL Terminal Operations, Airside Operations, AOCC (Airport Operations & Control Center), ATC (Air Traffic Control), IT Team, CISF (Central Industrial Security Force), Immigration, Customs, Landside Security, Airline Ground Handlers, ARFF (Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting) services, RAXA security, Trolley Operators, Housekeeping Staff, among others were available to ensure safe and seamless departure of the passengers.

Till 22nd April, 2020 GMR Hyderabad International Airport has handled 10 evacuation flights serving over 750 foreign nationals who were repatriated by various special relief flights from Hyderabad city to the countries viz. the UK, the UAE, the US and Germany.

While RGIA is handling the evacuation flights as and when a request comes their way, its cargo terminal is also fully operational to keep the vital link of essential supplies completely alive.

The cargo terminal is working round the clock in close coordination with the Customs, Ground Handlers, Forwarders, CHAs (Customs House Agents), Regulators, State Police, Cargo Trade associations, to keep the critical chain of essential supplies viz. Medicines, Vaccines, Medical equipment, Pharma raw material, Defense Goods, Bank related goods etc. moving seamlessly.