T’PURAM/KANNUR: As the state is making preparations for bringing back non-resident Keralites stranded in foreign countries because of the Covid-19 spread to the state, the Kochi-headquartered Air India Express, as well as airports, have expressed their readiness for evacuation. While Kannur International Airport Ltd MD V Thulasidas has said the airport is ready to receive the people from abroad, Air India Express has communicated to the state government that its aircraft are ready to take off if the Centre gives the nod for evacuation as suggested by the state, according to government sources.
The budget airline’s parent company, Air India, in fact, has a history of evacuating people from Beirut during the Lebanon crisis and Amman during the Gulf War. Air India Express had recently switched its passenger aircraft to cargo flights, after the DGCA nod, to meet its operational revenue. The last time Air India took off for evacuation was during the time of Covid-19 itself in January this year for bringing back Indians from Wuhan in China and Rome in Italy.
