South Africa will repatriate over 200 citizens, who have been stranded across India due to the COVID-19 restrictions, by a charter flight on May 22, according to the country’s department of international relations.
The South African nationals will be repatriated from India as part of the country’s exercise to bring back its stranded citizens from different countries, including the US and UK, the South African Department of International Relations and Communication (DIRCO) said on Friday.
The DRDO said that a charter flight of the South African Airways (SAA) will fly the South African nationals from Mumbai and New Delhi on May 22.
However, those stranded in other cities in the country are finding it difficult to reach to the international airports in Mumbai and Delhi due to the nationwide lockdown.
India on Sunday extended the nationwide lockdown till May 31 to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
In one instance, a South African company paid over Rs 75,000 for its employees stranded in Kolkata for training to reach Delhi for the flight back home.
Some of the stranded South African nationals are finding it difficult to pay for the one-way economy class ticket that costs over $805.
With SAA having stopped its direct flights to Mumbai a few years ago, most South Africans use other airlines, usually via Dubai, and will be required to buy new SAA tickets for the one-way flight costing around three times the normal airfare.
The airline said those with an SAA ticket will have the amount offset against the cost of the repatriation flight.
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