A total of 150 stranded Indian nationals from Doha arrived at Visakhapatnam International Airport on Wednesday evening.
On Tuesday night, 314 Indian nationals, 148 from Abu Dhabi and 166 from Manila, arrived by Air India flights at the airport.
Indian nationals stranded in various countries are being flown back into the country as part of the ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ of the Government of India.
As many as 148 stranded Indian nationals from Abu Dhabi arrived by the AI flight at the airport here around 9 p.m. on Tuesday. The arrival of another flight from Manila was delayed and it finally landed at around 10 p.m., according to Airport Director M. Raja Kishore.
Meanwhile, Minister Muttamsetty Srinivasa Rao informed the media that 84 passengers, who arrived on Tuesday night, were from Visakhapatnam district.
Meanwhile, the Visakhapatnam Customs and Central Tax Zone has said that hassle-free clearance was provided to 459 passengers, who arrived under the Vande Bharat Mission in Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada International airports on Tuesday.
Chief Commissioner of Customs Naresh Penumaka said that 314 passengers, who arrived by two flights at the city airport and 145 passengers from London who arrived at the Vijayawada Airport, were cleared by the Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada Customs officials at the respective airports.
All Customs facilities in Andhra Pradesh were working on a 24/7 basis to ensure quick and hassle-free clearance of cargo and to facilitate trade, he said.
Special APSRTC buses were arranged at the airport for transport of the foreign returnees to their native places.
“A total of 18 AC buses were operated on Tuesday night to transport 299 Indian nationals, who arrived by the two flights at the Vizag airport,” said Deputy Chief Traffic Manager (urban) M. Sudhabindu.
“The buses were operated to Chittoor, Anantapur, Kurnool, Nellore, Prakasam, Guntur, Krishna, East and West Godavari and Visakhapatnam districts on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, eight buses will be operated from the airport to transport the passengers arriving by the Vande Bharat flight from Doha,” she said.
One more flight from Kuala Lumpur is expected to arrive with 150 passengers on May 22.
All the passengers coming by the Vande Bharat flights will be tested for COVID-19 on arrival at the airport. They will be sent for compulsory quarantine to their respective native places.
