MUSCAT: The number of people wanting to travel back to India by the repatriation flights as result of the COVID-19 crisis is witnessing a slowdown.
According to a senior official at the Indian Embassy, although most flights flew in full capacity so far, the demand is expected to come down in the coming weeks.
“As of now there is still demand and most of the flights have departed in full capacity. We expect the demand to come down in future, as majority of the Indian nationals having urgent travel requirement have already departed," said Anuj Swarup, Second Secretary, Political and Information at the Embassy.
He said that Indian nationals are returning to India on either Vande Bharat Mission flights organised by the government of India or charter flights organised by corporates and social organisations.
“The scheduling of flights is done taking into account the demand for a particular destination," Anuj said.
Till Wednesday, 81 Vande Bharat Mission flights operated by the government of India departed from Oman, on which approximately 14,200 Indian nationals have travelled.
In addition to this, around 27,000 Indian nationals travelled in 149 charter flights operated by corporates and welfare associations like Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC).
Referring to the trend of decline, Dr Satheesh Nambiar, Chairman of Indian Social Club, said that people who were desperate to reach their home towns have already left.
“The initial apprehension following the outbreak of the pandemic and the consequent clampdown of lockdown has started fading. Many of those registered to fly back are now changing their decision," he said.
Coupled with this, the positive sentiment reigning on the business front after the reopening of commercial activities are deterring many people from going back, said Dr Nambiar.
In addition to this, the people who lost jobs and others who are told to take leave have already been flown home by the respective corporates.
Rayees Ahmed, President of KMCC, which felicitated maximum number of charter flights to the Indian state of Kerala, said that the demand for repatriation is found to be slowly waning as most people who had urgency have already left.
“People who were sick and needed urgent medical care, elderly and pregnant were accommodated in the initial flights followed by those who were stranded in the country following expiry of their visa period and others who lost their jobs," he said.
A number of people who wanted to travel urgently following bereavement in their families were also flown to India in the charter flights, which were operated by KMCC as part of its charity services.
As the lockdown has been lifted and optimism started prevailing in the business community, people are now having second thoughts about their travel back.
“As most of the distressed and stranded people have already left and with improvement in the business sentiment, demand for repatriation flights might further come down," Rayees said.
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