A repatriation flight from Dubai with 180 passengers is scheduled to arrive at Coimbatore International Airport in the early hours of Wednesday. This is the first repatriation flight under Vande Bharat Mission that was to land in Coimbatore.
Coimbatore airport director R. Mahalingam said that all arrangements were made by various departments to handle the passengers after their arrival.
Majority of the passengers are from Tamil Nadu and a few from Puducherry and Karnataka, he said.
A source with Air India said that the flight was ready for departure from Dubai International Airport around 7.30 p.m. IST on Tuesday.
The source added that the flight was scheduled to land around 12.05 a.m. here.
An official with Health Department said that swab samples of all the passengers will be collected on arrival at the airport. Samples will be subjected to PCR-based test for COVID-19.
Seven days of institutional quarantine was must for all the passengers, agreement for which was reportedly signed by them prior to the travel. The institutional quarantine will be a paid one and the passengers were given options to choose hotels of their choice.
If any passenger tests positive for COVID-19, he or she will be shifted to hospital.
Passengers who test negative for the disease will have to follow strict home quarantine for a week after institutional quarantine.