Hyderabad: A group of 168 US nationals stranded in Hyderabad were evacuated by a special relief flight operated by Air India from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad on Friday.
When COVID-19 is taking its toll across the globe and India being under lock-down; on humanitarian grounds and in service of the nation, GMR led Hyderabad International Airport is operating round the clock to seamlessly handle any COVID-19 relief and evacuation flights helping stranded passengers in Hyderabad take their relief flights back home beyond India’s borders.
on Friday, the Hyderabad International Airport handled two Special Passenger Charter flights of the national carrier – Air India, which operated to evacuate a few US nationals from Hyderabad city in Telangana. As per the flight itinerary, the first special flight of Air India – AI 1615 (Arrivals) / AI 1616 (Departures), an airbus A 320 aircraft landed at Hyderabad International Airport today at 1.52 PM from Mumbai and departed with 70 US-bound passengers (69 adults and 1 infant) at 3.03 PM to Mumbai.
The second special flight of Air India – AI 1617 (Arrivals) / AI 1618 (Departures), an airbus A 320 aircraft landed at Hyderabad International Airport today at 3.12 PM from Mumbai and departed with 98 US-bound passengers (96 adults and 2 infants) at 4.24 PM to Mumbai.
• 168 US nationals airlifted by an Air India Special Relief Flight
• RGIA has handled 5 evacuation flights so far
• Operating cargo services to keep the vital link of essential supplies fully alive and operational
Both the flights were purely domestic and operated from the main Passenger Terminal Building of Hyderabad International Airport. As per the flight itinerary, the passengers were to be further connected with Delta Airlines from Mumbai to their final destination in the US.
In coordination with the US Consulate and the Telangana State government, the US-bound passengers started to reach to the airport between 12 and 2 PM from various part of Hyderabad City. All these passengers were serviced through the fully-sanitized main passenger terminal building, which has been kept ready for evacuation operations.
Special screening and safety measures were in place during the flight’s handling to protect against the COVID-19 threat including thermal screening prior to terminal entry, 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), 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.
On 7th April, 2020, GHIAL had served 99 US-bound passengers who flew to Mumbai getting connected to the US by Delta Airlines. On 31st March 2020, GHIAL had handled a group of 38 German Nationals who flew by a special flight of Air India which ferried the passengers from Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai to Frankfurt. On 28th March 2020, GHIAL serviced a special Medical Evacuation Flight of IndiGo, which dropped its 8 crew members bound for Hyderabad and departed to Chennai with 5 stranded IndiGo crew members.
While RGIA is handling the seamless operations of evacuation flights as per requirements, 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 rolling viz. Medicines, Vaccines, Medical equipment, Pharma raw material, Defense Goods, Bank related etc. without interruptions.
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