MUSCAT: Around 450 Indians wishing to return home from Oman will be flown to two Indian states in the first week of India’s biggest ever repatriation exercise starting on May 9.

The Indian Embassy in Muscat is finalising the list of people who will be taking the first two special flights to Kerala and Chennai respectively. “It’s a tedious process to short-list the names but we are carefully screening the applicants to ensure the deserving ones gets to travel,” a senior official at the embassy told The Arabian Stories.

Who can travel?
According to the official, the priority will be given to medical emergency cases, pregnant women, workers in distress, senior citizens as well as to other people who are stranded in difficult situations.

The short-listed applicants would be contacted by the embassy through telephone/email. “The cost of tickets will have to be borne by the passengers themselves and air tickets will be issued by the airline only in the cases which are cleared by the Embassy,” he said.

Flight details
The first Air India flight will take off from Muscat to Kochi on May 9 and the second to Chennai on May 12.

According to the details, the airfare of Kochi flight is Rs 14,000 (OMR 71.2).

Health guidance
“Other conditions of travel, including quarantine requirements in India as well as health requirements to board the flight will be conveyed in due course and will have to be accepted by each passenger,” he added.

Earlier the Indian government had announced that it would only do a medical screening of the passengers before the flight and only asymptomatic persons would be allowed to travel. Each passenger will have to fill a self-reporting form to be presented at the health and immigration counter at their destination.

According to sources, returnees would undergo COVID-19 once they complete 14-day quarantine in a hospital or government –arranged institution on a payment basis.

Contact embassy for help
Embassy helpline numbers: +968-24695981 80071234 (toll free) +968-93577979 (WhatsApp).