Highlights
- We can bring Australians stranded in India back sooner if the Australian government lets us: Chartered flight operators
- Air India & Qantas operate fewer flights to Australia, with a cap of 50 passengers
- Number of Australians stuck in India rises due to lack of flights
Contrary to the belief that the number of Australians stranded overseas due to COVID-19 travel restrictions might have decreased with time, two Melbourne-based travel agencies, currently operating chartered flights from Australia to India, say that may not be true.
With commercial airlines conducting highly restricted operations across the world, only Qantas and Air India have flying rights on the Australia-India sector. They also have a cap of bringing in as low as 25 passengers per flight.
According to government data, nearly 37,000 Australians, desperate to return home, remain stranded across the world, out of which over 10,000 are in India.
Earlier this month, the federal government announced 20 additional flights to bring stranded Australians home from priority locations, in addition to current traveller caps.
But Gaura Travel and Mann Travel, two Melbourne-based travel agencies, who are currently operating one-way chartered flights from Australia to India believe that when allocated to different locations, even additional flights may not be enough to bring all stranded Australians home.
Both the agencies have been applying for permission before the federal government to operate the same flight from India since June 2020, only to be denied.
Ashwini (left) and Abhishek Sonthalia of Gaura Travel. Source: Supplied
If permitted, this could enable the government to bring stranded Australians from India sooner. In addition, these chartered flight operators also believe the journey will become more affordable.
To make matters worse for Australians desperate to return home, the weekly cap of incoming passengers was significantly slashed on 11 January to ease pressure on hotel quarantine resources, thus denying more people the opportunity to reunite with their loved ones in Australia.
“We have operated 36 chartered flights from Australia to India, with 250-300 passengers in each. In our upcoming February 5 flight, we would have transported 10,000 passengers. Qantas has operated no more than 10 flights at two-thirds occupancy from India since the COVID-19 restrictions were enforced,” says Ashwini Sonthalia, co-director of Gaura Travel says.
“If we can carry out operations of that magnitude one way, we surely can do it the other way around. That will also reduce the fare from India as we’re currently flying empty planes one way,” says Abhishek Sonthalia, another co-director of the travel agency.
Mr Sonthalia also feels their application has been “handballed” from one federal department to another.
“On the other hand, it was much simpler to get this permission from the Indian government. No wonder India’s civil aviation ministry website shows that the number of arrivals via chartered flights far exceeds that via Air India,” he reasons.
Atul Abrol, who runs the airport departure operations at Gaura Travel, believes the number of Australian permanent residents and citizens stuck in India may actually have increased with time.
Atul Abrol (back row extreme right) with passengers ready to board a chartered flight to India. Source: Supplied
“I’ve noted many of our passengers are Australian permanent residents and citizens. They get the exemption to travel only if they state they won’t return before three months. Such people are becoming those ‘stranded Australians’ statistics you see in the news,” says Mr Abrol.
Ruchi Kwatra, Operations Manager of Mann Travel, which has ferried nearly 4200 passengers in 17 chartered flights operated since August 2020, wonders what the Australian government’s plan might be regarding the stranded Australians.
“Depending upon state-wise caps, with only 25-60 passengers permitted in the two commercial airlines, when will the 10,000-plus Australians get home at that pace? Chartered flight operators can get this done in three months,” she says.
Passengers are paying as high as $6000 for a one-way journey from India to Australia as many have had to take circuitous routes to get home.
“We know people who’ve come to Australia via the US or Canada. This obviously costs a lot more and makes no sense. If the government permits us, this journey can become simpler and cheaper,” adds Ms Kwatra.
Ms Kwatra adds that around 3000 people from India have expressed interest with Mann Travel to fly to Australia. "But we have nothing to offer them yet," she says.
Ruchi Kwatra (left) with an India-bound passenger at Melbourne airport. Source: Supplied
Both Gaura Travel and Mann Travel concur that they “fail to understand” why the government won’t allow them to bring its own back home.
“Hotels are nearly vacant. The government no longer has to provide free hotel accommodation. The only reason could be their fear that they may not be able to manage the hotel quarantine properly, as we saw in Victoria,” says Mr Sonthalia.
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