Coronavirus: First evacuation flight from London lands at Kempegowda International Airport

As the first Air India evacuation flight from London touched down at the Kempegowda International Airport here early Monday morning, 343 passengers heaved a huge sigh of relief.

After weeks of anxiety, they were finally on Indian soil. But for the next 14 days, they will have to spend time in quarantine before heading to their homes.

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The flight, Air India (AI 1803) landed at around 4.45 am before all the passengers went through an elaborate thermal screening and scanning process at the airport.

All asymptomatic passengers were shifted to hotels and resorts spread across the city. The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) had arranged 16 buses for the purpose.

The passengers were taken in batches of 20. A huge posse of policemen, medical staff and allied health professionals were at the airport.

The entire path from the arrival gate up to the bus boarding point was barricaded and repeatedly disinfected.

Every passenger was given a fresh mask to replace their old own, immediately upon arrival. They also had to take an Indian SIM and get it activated before downloading the quarantine app, a health department official explained.

Counters were operational inside the terminal for the passengers to choose their quarantine hotel. In all, rooms were offered in 18 five-star hotels and resorts, 26 three-star hotels and 40 budget hotels.

Five-star hotel rooms were offered at Rs 3,000 for single occupancy and Rs 3,700 for double occupancy. Lunch and breakfast were charged extra.

Three-star rooms were offered at an average of Rs 1,850 per room per person. Budget hotel rooms were offered for Rs 900.