The first repatriation flight from London dropped 145 passengers at the Gannavaram airport near Vijayawada at 8 am on Wednesday.
Airport Director G. Madhusudhan Rao said it was a transit flight that came via Mumbai. All passengers were made to undergo medical screening before they could reach the immigration counter.
The government has made all arrangements for receiving people returning home from other nations through special flights arranged by the Union Government as part of Vande Bharat Mission.
Mr. Rao said the passengers had to go to five different counters set up in a hall for thermal screening and other health protocol. They were all given Indian SIM (Subscriber Identification Module) cards by the government before being led to their respective district counters where they exercised the option between ‘Government’ quarantine and ‘paid’ quarantine. Home quarantine was not allowed for anybody.
Outside the airport terminal, buses were ready to take the passengers to their respective districts.
Mr. Rao said a direct flight from Jeddah was scheduled to land on Wednesday night and one flight each on Thursday and Friday from Kuwait.
