German national stranded at Delhi airport for 55 days due to lockdown finally departs
A German national who was stranded at Delhi Airport for the past 55 days due to the international travel ban has departed in the morning on Tuesday to Amsterdam
- India News
- 3 min read
A German national who was stranded at Delhi Airport for the past 55 days due to the international travel ban has departed in the morning on Tuesday to Amsterdam. His tests came out to be negative prior to his departure. German national Edgard Ziebat had been living in the international transit area at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport for almost 54 days after he got stuck due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown in the country.
Ziebat had said that he came from Vietnam on March 18 by Vietjet airline and had a connecting flight to Istanbul in Turkey. But there were no flights available for Istanbul as India had suspended all commercial flight services due to COVID-19, he told the authorities.
Later on, the airport authorities had also asked the 40-year-old German national to board a special flight to Germany, which was operated under the Germany Embassy in Delhi, but neither the embassy nor the airlines agreed to take him on board. Turkish Airlines also refused to take him on board because he was not carrying a Turkish passport.
At March-end, German nationals stranded in India due to lockdown and the travel ban were evacuated in a special flight bound for Frankfurt in Germany.
According to reports, the Ministry of Tourism has said the process of repatriation of foreigners who were stranded in India is almost complete now. As per their estimates, around 30,000 international visitors stranded in various parts of the country, have returned to their home countries by now through several rescue flights operating from key airports.
According to the Ministry of Tourism, around a thousand international visitors were stranded in India, confined to their hotel rooms since they could not afford the rescue flights, which were quite expensive. However, they were being provided with the essential supplies and medical care by the administration. Some of the foreigners asked for an extension of their visa since they felt safer in India as compared to their home countries including the USA, the UK and Australia.
Published By : Pritesh Kamath
Published On: 12 May 2020 at 14:45 IST