• January 2, 2021

Keralites in UK contact Indian High Commission after India govt removes Kochi from list of direct flights from UK

Keralites in UK contact Indian High Commission after India govt removes Kochi from list of direct flights from UK

By A Staff Reporter

LONDON Jan 2: Keralites in the UK are unhappy with Kochi being removed from list of destinations where international flights can operate between India and UK until 23rd January, 2021.

Following the find of a new variant of Coronavirus international flight operations were stalled until 8th January 2021. However, later the India government decided to operate 15 flights per week between India and UK by following stringent protocols from 8th January.

In a Tweet the Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said: “Operations till 23 Jan will be restricted to 15 flights per week each for carriers of the two countries to & from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru & Hyderabad only.

Keralites in UK are unhappy that Kochi was not in the list announced by the minister. Malayalee organisations in the UK have started to liaise with government authorities.

UK Pravasi Help Desk group have now taken up the matter with the Indian High Commission in London by writing a letter and have initiated parleys between politicians in the Kerala and India. UK Pravasi Helpdesk is a Whatsapp group which was formed following the huge response received by the initial Malayalees Stranded in UK Whatsapp group which assisted hundreds of those stranded Indians in UK to be repatriated through the Vande Bharath Mission flights during the time of the Covid pandemic.

Screenshot of letter sent to Indian High Commission by Anoop Sasidharan, Group Admin of UK Pravasi Help Desk.

The general consensus among Keralites in UK is to ensure that they reinstate the direct flight between UK and Kochi and this could be done only if there is a joint effort from various organisations in the UK.

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