113 stranded Lankans flown back home in special flight

Apr 27, 2020, 04:20 IST

Coimbatore: At least 113 Sri Lankan nationals, who were stranded in Tamil Nadu and Kerala following lockdown, were sent to their native places on a special flight on Sunday.
They, mostly college students, were brought to the city airport from places such as Chennai, Chidambaram and Theni in Tamil Nadu and Thrissur and Ernakulam in Kerala in special buses. The arrangements for their repatriation were made following a request from the Lankan government.
All of them were first brought to the Fairfield by Marriott hotel, where arrangements were made for them to get refreshed, near the airport. It was the Sri Lanka deputy high commission in Chennai who arranged the transportation and other logistics for them.
Coimbatore Catering Owners Association provided them complimentary breakfast at the airport. Food was also served to the airport staff.
SriLankan Airlines (Airbus 321), meanwhile, arrived at the airport from Colombo around 10 am with seven crew members to take them home. Before entering the airport premises, the 113 were screened by a team of six doctors, who declared them all fit to fly.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel verified their details and after the customary security check, they were taken to the parking bay of the airport. The flight departed from the airport around 11.05am on Sunday.
SriLankan Airlines authorities later confirmed that all the passengers had safely reached Colombo in the afternoon.
City airport director R Mahalingam said they have been functioning to facilitate operations by cargo flights. “Seven cargo flights have landed here with medical equipment in the past one month. Likewise, personal protection equipment kits were flown to various parts of the country from here.”