Stranded Russian nationals in Kerala to be repatriated via Goa airport

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finally, the Russian nationals who were stranded in the state can heave a sigh of relief with the Russian consulate and embassy taking steps to evacuate them through Goa International airport instead of airports in Kerala. Earlier, a special flight of Ural airlines from Yekaterinburg in Russia was supposed to airlift the stranded passengers from Trivandrum Airport. However, the plan was cancelled later as Russia imposed strict restrictions on international travel.

As per the statistics available with Russian consulate, as many as 220 Russians are stranded in various parts of the state. According to Ratheesh C Nair, Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation, nine Russians from the state have flown to Russia and 12 others safely reached Goa on Friday for catching the special flight to their home country on Saturday.

“Unlike Kerala, there is a huge population of Russian tourists in Goa. So, the Goa government had requested the Russian government to schedule more flights to Goa. Hence, there are regular flights from Goa since the lockdown. There are flights four days a week from Goa to various Russian destinations, including  Moscow and Yekaterinburg. 

Hence, we made a decision to transport the stranded tourists in the state to Goa by road as the flight to Kerala from Russia will be delayed. The Kerala, Karnataka and Goa governments facilitated the movement. The decision on the remaining Russians in the state will be taken in the coming days and they will also be airlifted based on their wish. If someone wants to remain in Kerala, we will also make arrangements for them to stay here safely,” Nair told TNIE.

 In the first week of April, stranded Russians were informed that two special flights were to land at the airport here. But the flights were cancelled due to the uncertainty in Russia over airlifting citizens. As part of the procedures, the Covid-19 screening and examination of the travel documents were completed. The flights, which were scheduled from Chennai and Bengaluru, were also cancelled. This month, the German consulate had air-lifted 232 German nationals stranded in the state from Trivandrum Airport and UK citizens from Trivandrum and Cochin airports. An Italian national stranded in Varkala was also taken to Bengaluru airport by road last week to airlift him with other Italian tourists to Italy.