German nationals stranded in Hyderabad evacuated

Hyderabad, March 31 (IANS) A group of 39 German nationals stranded in Hyderabad were evacuated by a special relief flight operated by Air India from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here on Tuesday.

The group of Germans comprising 19 females, 17 males and two infants reached Hyderabad International Airport from various places in the city and left for Mumbai for their onward journey to Frankfurt.

A spokesman of GMR-led Airport said all passengers were serviced through the fully-sanitized Interim International Departures Terminal (IIDT), which was kept ready for the evacuation.

Earlier, the special flight, a Boeing B787-8 aircraft, landed at Hyderabad International Airport from Chennai, where some German nationals boarded it.

The aircraft will leave for Frankfurt from Mumbai, where some more Germans will board the relief flight.

To meet this emergency requirement, a select group of personnel from GHIAL Terminal Operations, Airside Operations, Airport Operations & Control Center (AOCC), Air Traffic Control (ATC), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Immigration, Customs and others were deployed.

Special screening and safety measures were in place during the flight's handling to protect against the Covid-19 threat including thermal screening prior to terminal entry, mandatory social distancing enforced through special queuing arrangements at all passenger processing points.

The Hyderabad Airport is handling Covid-19 relief and evacuation flights. Earlier, it handled

IndiGo medical evacuation flight on March 28.A IndiGo, through this flight, evacuated its crew stuck in Hyderabad.

Meanwhile, RGIA's cargo terminal is fully operational to keep the vital link of essential supplies completely alive. The cargo is working round the clock in close coordination with various agencies to keep rolling the critical chain of essential supplies like medicines, vaccines, medical equipment, pharma raw material and defense goods.