Preparations have begun in the district to receive thousands of Malayalis stranded both outside India and in other States in the country following the more than a month-long lockdown to fight the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
A communication from the district administration said here on Tuesday the Kochi airport and the sea port were getting ready to receive the returnees in a few days.
Sources at the Cochin Port Trust said the administration had not received any schedule of arrivals but was ready to render services needed to make the flow of passengers smooth.
The district administration is also gearing up to receive those who arrive by train once the rail passenger services are restored.
The aspects being looked into also include quarantine requirements for returnees. A meeting chaired by District Collector S. Suhas evaluated the progress of preparations.
In the first phase, there will be 10 flights bringing 2,150 passengers. Two-hundred passengers each will arrive on May 7 from Abu Dhabi and Doha; there will be 200 passengers arriving from Bahrain on May 8. This will be followed by 200 passengers from Kuwait and 250 from Muscat on May 9. There will be 250 passengers arriving from Kuala Lumpur on May 10. This will be followed by 200 passengers arriving on the following day from Dammam and Dubai. Another 250 passengers will arrive from Kuala Lumpur on May 12 and 200 will arrive from Jeddah on May 13.
Disinfection work
The passenger flow will be controlled in keeping with social distancing norms at arrival and exit points. Three-phased disinfection work is on at the airport now.
Drills for testing different systems are complete. Apart from the temperature guns to read the temperature of passengers, the process of installing thermal scanners at the arrival points is on.
The synthetic/textile wrapped furniture has been replaced with temporary plastic chairs. The timing of the arrival of flights would be intimated later, said a communication from the airport.