Highlights
- Vande Bharat Mission to fly from New Delhi to Sydney on August 22 & 26
- Information about ticket sales not mentioned in social media posts
- Mandatory paid hotel quarantine in NSW has been conveyed to potential travellers
Barry O’Farrell, the Australian High Commissioner to India posted late last night that Australia has been able to secure two flights under Air India’s Vande Bharat Mission scheduled for August 22 and 26 from New Delhi to Sydney.
This is the fifth phase of the repatriation mission being operated by India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation.
There was no information given about when tickets will be available for sale in the Australia High Commissioner’s social media posts. However, the posts clearly mentioned that travellers will have to undertake a 14-day mandatory hotel quarantine at their own expense in Sydney.
People reacted to this post complaining that they need more information than just advice to keep monitoring Air India’s website and social media channels.
"Now we'll have to keep a track of Air India's tweet about when the sale starts. This just adds to our anxiety," said a said a member of Australians Stuck in India Facebook group.
Anjan Bannerjee, a Sydney-based accountant currently stranded in Kolkata in eastern India, is only half happy to learn of the new phase of the Vande Bharat Mission.
“We have been stranded in India for months now. All our efforts to get tickets for similar flight have been in vain because they fly off unbelievably fast. I’m not too confident if we’ll get lucky this time too,” says Mr Bannerjee.
Thousands of Australian permanent residents and citizens stuck in India have congregated on various social media channels to discuss their concerns and arrive at a common solution: how to get back home.
They have been trending a hashtag #IStillCallAustraliaHome since weeks now, in the hope to attract the attention of authorities in both countries to look into their problems with buying tickets, seeking refunds for previous cancelled flights and their pricing.
Sharing his concerns on his inability to book tickets, Mr Bannerjee says that the Australian High Commission “should take ownership of Australians stranded overseas”.
“Earlier they would give the date, time and link of the website where tickets sales were done. But this time, they’ve left us to ourselves. This will strengthen travel agents who have been fleecing people since the last flight from New Delhi to Adelaide,” he adds.
Anjan and Sarbani Bannerjee want to return home to Sydney. Source: Supplied
Explaining how difficult it will be for people like him who are far away from New Delhi to catch one of these flights, Mr Bannerjee says that “if he’s lucky to get two tickets for August 22, he’ll need to leave from Kolkata three days before.”
“There is a 'bandh' (shutdown) call on August 20 and 21 in Kolkata due to the coronavirus, which means there will be no movement in the city. I will need to reach New Delhi latest by August 19 and make arrangements for our stay there till August 22,” he rues.
He is doubly concerned for his wife, Sarbani, who is diabetic.
"She is more vulnerable to COVID-19 home and her being out of home for prolonged periods is risky," Mr Bannerjee adds.
“Australian authorities need to understand that we won't be going to have a look at the Sydney Opera House. We’ll be going back to our lives, our work, our families,” he adds.
Charanjit Singh, stranded in Hoshiarpur in Punjab since the last five months, has lost his job because he has been unable to secure a ticket to fly back to his home in Sydney.
Charanjit Singh has lost his job while trying to get a ticket to Sydney. Source: Supplied
“Despite being an Australia citizen, I’m feeling left out. Most of us are drained mentally, emotionally, financially,” says Mr Singh who has been struggling to buy tickets to reunite with his family in Sydney.
There is a cap on the number of passengers arriving from India to Australia. Only 50 passengers are allowed to enter Australia per flight.
“By this logic, even if there’s one flight per week, it’ll take Australia a year to repatriate its thousands of permanent residents and citizens currently stranded in India,” said a member of Australians Stuck in India Facebook group.
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