Exactly a week after its Delhi-Guangzhou flight was postponed, Air India will operate one to Wuhan on October 30, the Indian embassy in Beijing announced. Wuhan is the city from where COVID-19 emerged late last year.
The flight, which will be operated on the Delhi-Wuhan-Delhi sector, is the sixth of the Vande Bharat Mission series, which the carrier is operating to not only bring back Indians stranded in the Hubei capital back to familiar shores but also help those with work visas to return to their jobs in China. The previous five flights flew to Guangzhou, Shanghai and Ningbo.
In February this year, Air India operated three flights to airlift 647 Indian citizens stranded in the central Chinese city, as the virus raged on in the country. This will be India&rsquos first flight to the Chinese 'Comeback City' since June, when it was confirmed as safe from the coronavirus and saw the curbs lifted.
Passengers arriving in Wuhan will be required to undergo a standard two-week quarantine in designated hotels. Those arriving in Delhi will be subject to a seven-day institutional quarantine and then a week of home quarantine.
Both Indian nationals and OCIs need to register at the embassy. Those who failed to travel earlier by a VBM flight despite registering, must re-register. For any guidance or assistance, reach out to the helpdesk (helpdesk.beijing@mea.gov.in).