125 Out Of 179 Passengers On Chartered Flight From Italy Test Positive For COVID In Amritsar
125 passengers on a Milan-Amritsar charter flight were found to be Covid-positive when tested on arrival.
Officials said there were a total of 179 passengers on the charter flight YU-661 that landed at the Amritsar airport at around 1.30 PM on Wednesday.
Since Italy is one of the "at risk" countries according to the Union Health Ministry, all eligible passengers -- 160 in this case -- were tested for COVID-19 and 125 of them were found to be positive.
Children also on board
Out of the total of 179 passengers, 19 were children or infants so they were exempt from on-arrival RT-PCR testing.
The charter flight between Milan in Italy and Amritsar in Punjab was operated by Portuguese company EuroAtlantic Airways.
Scheduled international flights have remained suspended since the first outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, back in March 2020. But in November this year, the Indian government had decided to resume scheduled international flights from December 15 which it subsequently revoked due to rising concerns over the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation had said that the suspension of scheduled international commercial passenger flights to and from India has been extended till January 31, 2022.
This restriction, however, shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by the DGCA.
Given the explosion of Omicron cases in India and around the world, it is highly likely to be extended for at least a couple of more months.
International scheduled flights may still be allowed on select routes by the authorities on a case-to-case basis.
In May 2020, India had launched Vande Bharat Mission, under which Indians stranded in foreign countries due to lockdowns there were brought back.
International flights flying under air bubble pacts
Since July 2020, limited international flights have also been operating to and from India under air bubble pacts.
Under an air bubble pact between two countries, special international flights can be operated by their airlines between their territories.
India had air bubble deals with around 32 countries including the US, the UK, the UAE, Kenya, Bhutan and France.?
On Wednesday, Hong Kong banned flights from eight countries including India until January 21, in a bid to arrest the rising number of Omicron cases.
On the same day, Lufthansa announced the resumption of Swiss International Airlines operations to Mumbai from international destinations starting from January 10 under the Air Bubble agreement.
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