2 more special flights to Goa from Dubai

Air India to operate on June 21 and 25 as part of Vande Bharat Mission

Two more repatriation flights to Goa will leave from Dubai on June 21 and 25 respectively, Air India has announced.

Special flights, which will depart from Dubai at 12 noon, will arrive at the Dabolim airport in Goa at 4.40pm. The flights are being operated as part of the Vande Bharat Mission to repatriate stranded Indians from the UAE, said a spokesperson of Air India.

Both flights will be ferrying 149 passengers each and priority will be given to those registered for repatriation with the Indian missions in the UAE.

UAE resident Vishanti Coutancar, who has been volunteering her services working with the Indian consulate, said the flights were arranged after hectic parleys with all the coordinating agencies on heavy demand from Indian expatriates from the state of Goa.

The first direct repatriation flight to Goa under the Vande Bharat Mission, flew out on June 1 from Dubai. Since Goa has been in the green zone as far as the incidence of Covid19 is concerned, most Goans were unwilling to fly to neighbouring cities of Mumbai and Pune, both with a very high incidence of infection.

These flights will accommodate most of the Goan expatriates, who have been requesting for a long time.

“The last repatriation flight to Goa had gone full and there were still several expectant mothers, senior people, people on expired visit visas and those who were facing job losses. These flights will come as a great relief to these stranded people,” said Coutancar.

She added that people who were looking forward to flying back to Goa could still register on the website https://www.nri.goa.gov.im/ nri-asst-form-html and https://cgidubai.gov.in.