The US Nationals, an infant among them, were stranded in Telangana.
A special flight carrying 99 US nationals took off from the Hyderabad International Airport today. The passengers were to be taken to Mumbai, from where they were to board a Delta Airlines flight for the US.
The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport has so far handled three evacuation flights.
This Air India special relief flight was for US Nationals stranded in Hyderabad city and elsewhere in Telangana. A press release said the airport is operating cargo services to keep the vital link of essential supplies operational.
The A320 airbus landed at the Hyderabad International Airport at 3.12 PM from Mumbai and departed with the US-bound passengers for Mumbai at 4.15 PM.
In coordination with the US Consulate and the Telangana State government, the 98 adults and 1 infant had arrived at the airport at around 1 PM. They used the fully-sanitized main passenger terminal building, which has been kept ready for evacuation operations.
Special screening and safety measures were in place to protect against COVID-19. The passengers had to undergo thermal screening. Mandatory social distancing was enforced through special queuing arrangements.
On March 31, the airport had handled a group of 38 German nationals who went to Frankfurt. On March 28, a special Medical Evacuation Flight of IndiGo, dropped its 8 crew members bound for Hyderabad and departed to Chennai with 5 stranded IndiGo crew members.
Telangana has 321 cases of coronavirus, of whom 34 have recovered, Seven patients have died. Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend the lockdown beyond April 14.