Thiruvananthapuram, June 03: Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan today announced that there are no restrictions on evacuation flights to Kerala. The State government has given permission for 700 flights this month to bring back the stranded Pravasi Malayalees from other countries. The State has agreed to 360 flights under the Vande Bharat mission Phase II, 40 chartered flights from the Gulf countries and 300 flights by SpiceJet.

Addressing the media, the Chief Minister said, “All those who desire to come back to Kerala will be brought and they will be taken care off here. There are no restrictions on the number of flights coming to the State. Under the Phase II of Vande Bharat mission, 36 flights have been scheduled from June 03 to 10. Another 324 flights may be scheduled over the month. We are ready to give permission for more flights under the Vande Bharat mission. Permission has also been given for 40 chartered flights. If any organisation wants to charter a flight to Kerala, there are two conditions. One, the flight charges should be close to the Vande Bharat fare. There should not be a big disparity. Two, the allocation of seats should be given to the priority group, as announced by the State government earlier.”

The government has also given permission to SpiceJet to fly 300 flights to the State from abroad, ten flights per day. The only condition set by SpiceJet is that passengers will have to present Covid negative test results.

Between May 7 and June 2, 24,333 people have arrived by 140 flights and 1,488 passengers by three ships, making it a total of 25,821.

Those who have lost their jobs, those who have expired visa visas, pregnant women, elderly persons with other illnesses and children who have been separated from their families fall in the priority group.