Passengers from London go straight into quarantine, say it’s a small price to pay

BENGALURU: “It was a long trip from the airport to the quarantine facility and I could only wave to my parents from the bus. But it felt like a massive weight was off my shoulders,”

Ritika Srivatsan

, 18, said on landing in his hometown Bengaluru.

Ritika was among the 326 Indian passengers, including three infants, who returned from

London

via an Air India flight (AI 1803) which landed at

Kempegowda International

Airport around 4.47am on Monday. Flown back under the Vande Bharat mission, they were relieved, hoping the worst was over. Twelve crew members were also on board.

“After all the uncertainty, I’m glad I’m back regardless of the quarantine which I think is necessary. I had booked multiple tickets but the lockdown was constantly extended. My parents were concerned about my safety. I’m extremely lucky to fly back on the repatriation flight,” said Ritika.

Bengaluru Air Customs

said it facilitated quick clearance of the 326 passengers with due physical distancing. “Preliminary medical tests by the health department showed no suspected Covid-19 cases,” it added.

Families and friends of the passengers were advised not to visit the airport to receive them. Still, a few turned up and had to be content with seeing their loved ones from a distance.

The passengers had to wait for nearly an hour before they were allowed to disembark. Only two rows were allowed to exit at a time. They had to fill a self-declaration form detailing their health condition, after which they underwent thermal screening and pulse oximeter reading in batches of 20 to prevent overcrowding.

The flyers were then stamped on the back of their palm with indelible ink showing the number of days they will have to remain in quarantine. They were allowed to choose the quarantine facility (including fivestar hotels and resorts).

Amid tight security and frequent sanitisation, passengers were escorted into BMTC buses in batches of 20 from where they were taken to their chosen quarantine centre. Each of the 15 buses departed to a round of applause from airport, health and police department staff. All asymptomatic passengers will spend 14 days under quarantine.

Meghana Manjunath

, another student, live-tweeted updates of her journey — right from check in at London’s Heathrow airport till she reached the quarantine facility. “Passengers in the back didn’t get anything — no mask, gloves or face shields. Thankfully, I had 3-4 masks my friend in the UK had given me,” said Meghana.

During the stop-over in Delhi, the airline crew was changed, said passengers. Actress and politician Jayamala’s daughter Soundarya was among the returnees.