Air India flight with 256 passengers from UK lands in Delhi amid new COVID strain worry

New Delhi: Amid rising concerns of new COVID-19 strain that emerged in the United Kingdom (UK), an Air India flight with 256 passengers on board from the UK has arrived in Delhi on Friday.

The ban on UK flights was lifted on January 6. 30 flights will operate each week – 15 each by Indian and UK carriers. This schedule will continue till January 23, civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri had informed earlier.

Passengers will have to take an RT-PCR test up to 72 hours before a flight and on arrival. 

The airport authorities have issued a special directive to those returning to the country on other flights from the UK to Delhi.

In a tweet, the Delhi airport said: “Passengers are advised to maintain a gap of minimum 10 hours between their international flights’ estimated time of arrival and the connecting domestic flights’ time of departure.”

Flights to the UK were suspended since December 23 following the discovery of a new COVID-19 strain in the UK.

The total number of people who tested positive for the new UK strain of the Coronavirus in India reached 75 on Thursday, the special surveillance report issued by the central government said.

As per the report, a total of 4,858 people have been traced who travelled between India and the UK after the cases of infection by new variant came to light.

With agency inputs