Bengaluru, May 22: Evacuation planes from Male in Maldives and Doha in Qatar landed in Bengaluru with returnees from Karnataka after they were stranded for two months due to suspension of international flights since March 23 and the extended lockdown, an official said on Friday.
"An Air-India flight (#0266) with 152 passengers from Male and its subsidiary Express flight (IX-0822) with 177 returnees and 5 infants from Doha landed here safely at 6.50 pm. and 9.05 pm respectively," an airline official told media persons in Bengaluru.
Both the flights are first from their respective countries to Bengaluru, bringing in returnees to the southern state in the second phase of the Vande Bharat mission, being carried out to evacuate Indians stranded the world over.
"As per the standard operating procedure and guidelines of the state health department, all the passengers were screened with thermal device and tested to ensure they were asymptomatic before leaving the airport," a nodal officer said.
The returnees were given a spare mask to wear all the time and a sanitiser to wash their hands.
"The luggage of all passengers was screened and disinfected before handing over to them after they completed formalities such as filling the self-declaration form and downloading of the Quarantine App for contact tracing later,” said the official.
The passengers were ferried from the airport in state-run buses in batches for 14-day institutional quarantine in hotels and resorts across the city.
The flights were the 6th and 7th flights to Karnataka, of the national carrier and its Express arm, which are operating the service to repatriate thousands of Indians, including distressed workers, migrants, students, senior citizens and tourists, stranded overseas.
Five flights have flown about 650 returnees till date from May 18-21 under the mission's second phase to Bengaluru and Mangaluru on the west coast. The passengers have been brought from Dubai in the UAE, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Muscat in Oman, Dammam in Saudi Arabia and San Francisco in the US.
The remaining flights to Karnataka will land in Bengaluru and Mangaluru over the next 12 days till June 3 from 9-10 more destinations the world over.
In the first phase of the mission from May 7-17, the airline and its arm flew 6 flights to the state from May 11-15, bringing in 800 passengers, including 623 to Bengaluru and 177 to Mangaluru from London, Singapore, San Francisco and Dubai.
Every year, the officers of the customs and central excise department are also considered for grant of Presidential Award of Appreciation Certificate for 'exceptionally meritorious service rendered at the risk of life' and for 'specially distinguished record of service' on their achieving and maintaining excellence in the discharge of their duties.
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Congratulations, Manglorean prouds of you
Great Work Kareem Saab. Keep it up. Be truthful and hard work in future too and we all one day reach our rabb to give our accounts.
May Allah (swt) give you good health, courage and keep you long life to help in a straight forward manner. Aameen.
Congratulations Kareem Bhai, Masha Allah. Hope to see many, many more such accolades. Hard work and dedication always pays off. May Almighty Allah shower his blessings upon you and grant you good health and happiness. aameen.
You really deserve such prestigious award, congratulation sir!! Its reward for your sincerity, honesty and dedication. May Allah bless you with good health and happiness. Ameen.
CONGRATULATIONS ABDUL KAREEM SAAB. MAY ALMIGHTY ALLAH BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS WITH THE BEST. AMEEN.
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