The special flight carrying stranded Indians from Kuwait will land at the Tirupati airport by around midnight of Thursday (May 21). Passengers bound for Chittoor, Kadapa, Nellore, and Kurnool districts are arriving by this aircraft.
Commissioned under ‘Vande Bharat’ mission, the Kuwait – Hyderabad – Tirupati Air India flight will reach Hyderabad at 9 p.m. and depart at 10.30 p.m. to reach Tirupati at 11.30 p.m.
“This flight has a seating capacity of 150, but the number of passengers we will receive is still not clear as the booking process is still on,” Airport Director S. Suresh told The Hindu.
On arrival at Hyderabad, the passengers will undergo the immigration, customs and other formalities before they are allowed to travel to Tirupati.
At Tirupati, the passengers will be checked for body temperature and other COVID-19 specific parameters, following which they will be segregated district-wise.
Though a disinfectant tunnel was initially planned to be installed by the district authorities at the airport, it is unlikely to materialise as the number of flights arriving here is still uncertain. Spray guns will be used to sanitise the passengers’ baggage before they are moved over to trolleys.
The special officers from various districts will pick up their passengers and take them in special buses to their respective districts, where they will be quarantined.
Quarantine facilities
Meanwhile, the district administration has readied the housing colony at Vikruthamala village, located close to the airport compound, for passengers wishing to be quarantined free of cost. Those willing to pay will be shifted to the hotels roped in through a tie-up with AP Tourism.
The government has negotiated two packages with the hotels for the fourteen-day quarantine, which includes food and accommodation.