New Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) released by the Indian Government, repatriation through charter service has been better streamlined for all flights from June 25, 2020 onwards. The idea is that when airlines handle approval procedures directly, it will help to cut red tape and lessen the burden on the missions.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is coordinating with state governments through the Indian missions for the repatriation of Indian citizens abroad starting from when charter flights were allowed for expats impacted by conditions bought on by coronavirus.
New SOP in detail
The Government of India has revised the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for operation of Chartered flights for the repatriation of stranded Indians. The process will be as follows:
i) The Chartering entity (Community Association/ Company/ Group etc) in Kuwait has to identify an Air Transport Operator (ATO) and provide details of passengers, destination and manifest, etc. to the Embassy of India in Kuwait for examination and processing of Embassy’s No Objection.
ii) The ATO will contact State Government of the destination in India directly and share a copy of the proposal and passenger manifest with the State Government.
iii) State Governments will perform necessary internal checks for quarantine availability etc.
iv) ATO will obtain State Government’s written clearance for the flight and Embassy’s No-objection on the manifest. ATO will then contact Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for flight clearance.
v) Prior to the actual departure of the Flight, ATO must send the final passenger manifest to the Embassy of India in Kuwait, as well as to the concerned State Government.
vi) The format of the manifest remains the same as shared earlier.
vii) Contact details of the State coordinators/Nodal Officers will be shared with ATOs by the Embassy.
vii) For any further queries, you are kindly requested to write to sslabourkuwait@mea.gov.in or labour.kuwait@mea.gov.in