Venkat Raman
Auckland April 29, 2021
Although the New Zealand government has lifted the ban on flights from India, inadequate, infrequent air services and suspension of flights by many airlines continue to frustrate New Zealand citizens stranded in India.
Many airlines have either suspended flights from India or restricted transit passengers at various points, contributing to longer than expected delays in the travel of eligible people from the country, characterised as ‘High-Risk.’
Situation disparate
India has been experiencing a high rate of daily infections, reaching a record 360,960 and more than 20,000 deaths in the past 24 hours. Although oxygen cylinders, ventilators and other essential hospital supplies are coming in from various countries, the sheer volume of people needing hospitalisation and/or treatment has created a huge gap between demand and supply. Interviews and reports- through official, media and personal sources-indicate the growing desperation.
Only New Zealand citizens are allowed to enter India and according to a Radio New Zealand Report, there were only 131 people are booked into Managed Isolation Quarantine (MIQ) facilities up to Sunday, Mary 2, 2021.
RNZ quoted a MIQ spokesperson as saying that of these 106 are from India.
Hurdles for travellers
“It is highly likely that many of these returnees will not arrive in New Zealand because of the widespread disruption to flight schedules, particularly from India to destinations where many returnees from there currently transit en route to New Zealand,” the spokesperson said.
It is understood that 91 of these 131 people are permanent residents or temporary visa holders, which means that they will be able to travel only if they have a partner, are a dependent child or parent of a dependent child who is a New Zealand citizen.
House of Travel Chief Operating Officer Brent Thomas said getting back from India was very difficult, even if someone was eligible under the new criteria.
“There are no direct flights and the traditional routes such as Australia are not open. Travellers may be able to by Qatar Airways via Doha but the number of seats is limited. Global travel rules are changing with just 24 hours’ notice and over time, requirements through transit countries will become more complex,” he said.
No repatriation flights
The New Zealand government has committed to giving the Red Cross $1 million to assist with the crisis.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described the images coming from India as ‘absolutely devastating,’ but said that there are no plans to operate repatriation flights.
“Early on in the pandemic, we arranged charter flights to get as many citizens and permanent residents out of India as possible. However, commercial flights began operating thereafter. But flights from India have been suspended now,” she said.
Ms Ardern said that the government is waiting to see if commercial flights resumed and that the Cabinet is yet to discuss the issue.
Risk assessment
“It is about assessing the risk and we urge people keen on returning to look at the vaccination and eligibility criteria. We cannot always guarantee that we can bring people back. We are fulfilling our responsibilities under the Bill of Rights to make sure that citizens and their families can return here. But obviously, this is a very difficult and challenging situation for people who are not citizens but want to come back here and we just encourage them to look at their options and find a way through,” she said.
Citizens can return directly, but permanent residents or visa holders must spend at least 14 days outside of very high-risk countries before flying to New Zealand.
“We continue to have the humanitarian categories … that people can apply to if there are very particular reasons for them needing to get home,” Ms Ardern said.
