Updated 05th September 2020

Note: This post has been updated with the latest guidelines issued by government for the international passengers

I was one of the lucky ones to travel to India (London-Delhi) in the third phase of Vande Bharat Mission from U.K. After completing a hell of an extended contract on board the last ship, I guess the repatriation flights came as a much needed respite and perhaps euphoria! Having following the unprecedented happenings around the world for months, I guess it was now my turn to experience the ‘new normal’ and I could only hope that I was ready for it. As you might be aware, we sailors are mostly insulated from the ongoing pandemic while at sea and as such we are perhaps not so accustomed to wearing face masks and gloves as much as we would have liked to. That habit of inadvertent touching of face (without sanitizing hands) is what I was dreading!!! Anyway, equipped with a stock of various PPE such as Face masks, gloves, sanitizers I disembarked the ship at Milford Haven, Wales.

Milford Haven to Heathrow

If you are interested, you may choose to watch a short 60 second video covering the 5 hour ride to Heathrow and the 6 days I spent at Hilton nearby Heathrow airport, awaiting for the repatriation flight. This was not any sort of quarantine, it was just that I was able to book my flight departing on 20 June as all other flights were not available or sold out from 14th June, i.e. the day I disembarked. In those 6 days, what was surprising to me was to see pretty lax social distancing measures inside convenience stores especially from youngsters as if it was being illogically imposed upon them. I guess people lack imagination and think if it can’t be seen, then perhaps its not there. Pleasantly though, what I did like was my daily walks as due to less crowds, maintaining social distancing in parks was never an issue.

Hope you liked the video! (Needless to say, do subscribe for more! )

Flying back to India on Vande Bharat Mission Phase 5 Repatriation Flights? Read this before you book!

Under the fifth phase of Vande Bharat Mission from 1st August till 31st August, Air India & Air India Express (826 flights), Spicejet (10 flights) & Indigo (25 flights) will be conducting 939 flights of which 76 will be feeder flights. These flights will connect India with the USA, Canada, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Singapore, UK, Frankfurt, Paris, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, New Zealand, Philippines & more. Here is the country-wise flight schedule of Vande Bharat Mission Phase 5 or you can check out the PDF file updated on 08 August 20.

Some more Air Bubble flights were recently added by Air India and can be checked here: Air Bubble flights VBM Phase – 5 (USA, Paris & Frankfurt)

Tips on Registration & Flight Booking Process

The list of the evacuation flights from Australia/ USA/Canada/Europe/UK to India and the quarantine regulations are available on Air India website. When I was booking my flight for Phase 2 flights, rules were hazy and there was a bit of confusion regarding the procedure to register with the Indian Mission in UK. After digging a bit, I found out the email address for High Commission of India London and I sent out a mail to them as to why I should be considered for the evacuation flights. While I waited for their response if I will be considered for the flight, I guess I struck gold when the Government of India announced Phase 3 evacuation flights. I had also found out a google forms link to register with High Commission of India London and kept a copy of the same with me however no one asked about it when checking in for the flight.

Now the Air India site has become a lot streamlined with mandatory entries required in the User Registration form  incl. undertaking before you are able to search for or book the flight. However, you still need to register yourself with the Indian Mission in UK using the google form.  Priority is being given to compelling cases in trouble, including transient specialists/workers who have been laid off, momentary visa holders confronted with an expiry of visas, people with health-related crisis/pregnant ladies/old, those required to come back to India because of death of a relative, and understudies. I chose “Migrant worker” in the Air India User Registration Form & “Sailors/Seamen Disembarked at Port” in the HCI London registration form as both have slightly different options.

Another mandatory question which has been added in the undertaking is the Covid test status and the Type of Covid test. Read more about it in the update section below.

Registration Link for other countries

Tip #1: If using a travel agent or any Online Travel Agencies, to avoid being overcharged, Do check the respective airline sites before you go ahead with the booking!

The number of flights under the Vande Bharat mission has increased considerably in the fifth phase of the Vande Bharat Mission. As such there is no lack of availability of flights as of now and the number is expected to increase in the coming days. So you should be able to get a flight without much issues. Air India and Air India Express are now allowing travel agents to book Vande Bharat Mission Flight, so you can also book through travel and online travel portals. However, if you choose to use OTA’s or travel agents for your flight booking, do check the respective airline site as recently there have been complaints of overcharging passengers by some travel agents and OTAs. Air India has imposed some restrictions on some travel agents but it is still a good idea to double check what you are paying.

The latest flight fares can be found here. The fares for the Vande Bharat mission phase 5 flights have reduced considerably since when I travelled in June.

Also, there have been cases where the flights were observed as “SOLD OUT’ to many travellers. This was clarified by Air India to be a technical glitch due to supposedly large number of hits on the site. If you are not getting the flight you want, you should wait for a few hours before deciding to change your schedule. However, if your flight is showing available in Phase 5, go for it!!

We were 4 Indians trying to book the flights while still on board the ship. Somehow each of us managed to get bookings for different dates for the same destination Delhi. I had managed to select seat during the booking process and paid it along with the flight booking however, remaining had skipped that step and then booked the seat later.

We had another issue as immigration authorities in UK used to only approve 7 days stay to seafarers disembarking in UK. So when we looking for a flight within 7 days of disembarking. However, we found out that in wake of the pandemic, the immigration authorities have become a bit more flexible and if informed prior to your disembarkation regarding the departure flight, then they consider and approve higher stays in UK.

Check-in, Security check and boarding

Tip #2: Reach the airport at least 4 hours prior the flight departure time!! The queues for these flights are loooong!!

To enter the airport, there was a separate queue on a separate floor for the passengers travelling to India on the Vande Bharat Mission flight. Passengers were released in batches of 10 and I reckon standing in the loooonng! queue for at least an hour. For some reason difficult to fathom, people in this queue forgot that we were still in COVID times. Thanks to the trolleys, some social distancing was there!

When finally we reached that check in queue We were handed They just handed out a undertaking form regarding acceptance of obligatory institutional quarantine for 14 days upon arrival at India at my own expense. This form needed to be filled out and submitted at the check in counter.

Tip #3: Keep a pen for filling out forms and do keep it with yourself!!!

Avoid sharing it with others. Fun fact: seeing me filling the form, I was asked for my pen at least a dozen times! What surprised me was that even in these times, people got offended when I refused politely. And this is even after knowing everything there is to know about the pandemic.

Apart from another long queue at the check-in counter, the process was rather smooth. One Air India official was offering ‘discounted’ Business class upgrades for which there were no takers!! No surprises there!

There was no waiting at the security check. Once past the security check, you could easily confuse the airport for ghost towns if not for these evacuation flights. With only a couple of stores open, there was not much to kill time at the airport. Once at the boarding gate, all passengers were asked to stand in yet another queue to get our temperature checked on forehead using an infra red thermometer. The passengers with middle seats were provided with disposable overall which they had to wear prior boarding the flight. There was no one with any symptom and so all travellers were then asked to queue up for boarding.

London-Delhi flight

Getting Ready for a trip to Moon!!!

Flight was about an hour late however still managed to arrive Delhi after 8 hours which surprisingly was right on schedule. There was food, face mask and shield right on the seat. All were required to wear the face masks and shields at all times. Since these are not normal flights, there was no in-flight service apart from the occasional handing out extra water in case someone required. Although, there was a one litre mineral water bottle provided however I was not very keen on drinking (just to avoid that dreaded visit to the toilet!!). Food was more than enough to last 8 hours flight time. There were 2 packed boxes one for snacks and another for meals. There was another plastic pack with some more mixture packets.

The seats had screens however no in-flight entertainment. You could however charge your phones as there was a USB socket beside the screen.

Tip #4: Carry your own entertainment. I downloaded enough on Netflix for 7 days in case I had to go for institutional quarantine.

Social distancing was non-existent on the flight. Those repeated calls by cabin crew requesting passengers to sit down and not move around in the flight while taxing somehow brought me close to normality. As expected, when the flight landed at Delhi, all passengers sprung up as though their springs got released as I guess by this time their ears had become immune to the cabin crew’s cries.

Tip #5: Book window seats and preferably in the front or back of the aircraft!! Avoid middle seats as well as seats in the middle of the plane! That’s the best you can do for maintaining social distancing. 

At Delhi Airport

First the passengers to the onward connecting flight were deplaned. That was about two-thirds of us. I guess this took at least 40 minutes. They were taken directly to the connecting flight after being thermally screened. When our turn came, we were also first screened thermally then segregated in groups of 30. One team leader from Airport Security escorted us at all times as he was responsible for getting the group cleared of immigration, baggage, customs and to the medical center where the group was further segregated as per the corresponding quarantine hotel/institutional facility.

The team leader advised the group that all will be going for 7 days institutional quarantine at Government facility at no charge or paid quarantine at designated hotels; followed by 7 days home quarantine. However, he also advised exceptional and compelling conditions in which case the traveller could be allowed to go for 14 day home quarantine. That is in case there was a death in the family, those suffering from serious illness, pregnant women and parents with young children less than 10 years old. Of course, they needed documentary evidence to support the same. Although I didn’t fall into any of these categories however, the team was considerate enough to let me go for 14 day home quarantine at Delhi citing parents health issues. However, I provided the required documentation for the same. I was asked to fill out a home quarantine undertaking form and forward the required documentation on email to airportcovid@gmail.com. Before the travellers could leave the airport, they were once again screened by a panel of doctors. They checked that if we had downloaded and registered the ‘Arogya Setu’ app.

Tip#6: While you wait to get to the medical center, and you will wait!!!, register your details in the ‘Arogya Setu’ App. This will be checked and you will be made to do there if not done by that time. Simple downloading of the app is not enough.

Once I showed the evidence that I had sent out the required mail, I was asked to take a picture of the Undertaking form for home quarantine which I had to show to the security at the exit and I was out. Booked an Uber ride and came home. The conversation with Uber driver regarding his take on Corona for some other time!

Tip#7: One can speak to the SDM at the medical center to go for home quarantine who are quite considerate in cases of human distress even if your case does not strictly fall under the exempted categories. However, in case of any doubt whether your case may not be considered for hotel quarantine exemption, then you should definitely pre-book your hotel in advance for the 7-day institutional quarantine. There have been numerous cases where the ones without any hotel pre-booking had to wait for 10-12 hours at the airport, while the ones with the pre-booking were sent to their hotels within 2 hours. Also, if you are staying in and around Delhi NCR, its better to pre-book your hotel quarantine stay sat Delhi else you may be in for a huge delay until your (not so) neat and clean bus ride to NCR is arranged.

Update 10 August 2020 on 7-day mandatory quarantine guidelines for international passengers arriving at India

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has made a seven-day institutional quarantine mandatory for travellers, followed by home isolation for another 7 days. The travellers will have to submit self-reporting form on newdelhiairport.in ‘Air Suvidha’ at least 72 hours before scheduled travel. This is basically an undertaking by the traveler to undergo mandatory quarantine of 14 days i.e. 7 days paid institutional quarantine at their own cost, followed by 7 days isolation at home with self-monitoring of health.

However, if you fall in one of the exempted categories i.e. for compelling reasons/cases of human distress such as pregnancy, death in family, serious illness and parent(s) with children of age of 10 years or below, you will be permitted to self-isolate at home for 14 days. But in case you are seeking these exemptions, you will need to apply to the online portal ‘Air Suvidha’ at www.newdelhiairport.in at least 72 hours before boarding, after which the government will take the final call.

Update 04 September 2020 on COVID-19 testing and Onward flights from Delhi to other states

Option 1: Negative RT-PCR Test report – In case you have a connecting domestic flight upon your arrival at India, you can now seek exemption from the mandatory 7-day institutional quarantine by submitting the negative RT-PCR test report. However, this test should be conducted within 96 hours prior to boarding the flight and the test report needs to be uploaded on the ‘Air Suvidha’ online portal for consideration. You could also produce the test report upon arrival at point of entry in India. The passenger’s hand will be stamped and before you can board the domestic flight.

The states also can have their own respective quarantine regulations. So, Check out the state wise quarantine regulations before booking your onward journey.

Although the online portal is developed by New Delhi airport, however it can be used for all international passengers arriving India. So the passengers do not need to fill physical copies of a self-declaration form and quarantine exemption form at the time of arrival at India, like I had to do in the month of June. Hopefully, this would help a great deal in making the process truly contact less and reduce congestion at airport arrival halls.

If you are considered for the exemption from mandatory institutional quarantine, you will receive a email with a copy of approval or rejection in case of specific grounds. The traveller has to show the approval letter at the transfer area of the respective airport.

Option 2: On-Arrival Testing facility (Coming soon from Mid-September) – Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) has set up a COVID-19 testing facility at the multi-level car parking area of its Terminal 3 for arriving international passengers who have to take connecting domestic flights. The testing facility will become operational from mid-September.

If the RT-PCR test result is negative, the international passenger will be allowed to board his or her connecting domestic flight and the passenger will not need to undergo any institutional quarantine. The sample results will be declared in 4-6 hours to the incoming passengers. Until the results are confirmed, passengers will be isolated at the waiting lounge or may opt to stay in a hotel.

How this will work out and how streamlined the entire process will be is still to be seen. I will update this post once the process is in operation with reliable information.

Option 3: Hotel Quarantine at Delhi – An international passenger who does not have a COVID-negative result certificate from a test done not more than 96 hours prior to the journey, and does not opt for an on-arrival testing facility at the entry airport, will have to compulsorily undergo seven-day institutional quarantine followed by 7-day home quarantine.

Hotel Quarantine at Delhi

One of my colleague was certain that his case will not be considered for home quarantine as he didn’t fall under any of the exempted category and so he got his hotel booked in advance for the 7-day hotel quarantine. Others who had not booked the hotel in advance were given a choice of hotels for the quarantine period. The price seemed reasonable ranging from 2000-5000 INR to be borne by the traveller. His hotel was booked by the company so he was taken to ITC Maurya along with some other travellers to the same hotel without too much of a delay. Passports were taken by authorities. Each group members were escorted to the respective hotel. To avoid any disappointment its better not to get your hopes up for the rickety bus ride to the hotel. Temperature was checked daily by hotel staff. Meals, water, various tea/coffee/creamer sachets were put outside of the room. Per meal costed INR 250.

Tip#8: Feedback for meals: little said the better, so one would want to stock up for this period at hotel.

Upon completion of 7 days, hotel asked to fill out a form and Passport was handed over. Since my colleague was from Noida, he was given a hand filled e-pass which was checked at DND prior entering Noida.

All the best!! Let me know in case you require any more information! I am still under home quarantine so would be happy to help out!

Stay Safe and do remember to sing “Happy birthday” song twice while washing hands!!!