870 chartered flights flew as many as 2 lakh people during lockdown

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has allowed around 870 chartered flights to fly. The DGCA on Monday said that these flights foreign airlines have operated 870 chartered flights, carrying around two lakh stranded people to their destinations amid the coronavirus-triggered lockdown. These charted flights were foreign airlines transporting stranded people to their destinations amid coronavirus lockdown.

"In addition to facilitating the Vande Bharat Mission, DGCA granted permission to around 870 chartered flights, transporting around 2 lakh passengers, both inbound and outbound. Several Airlines helped in the humanitarian mission of taking stranded people to their destinations," tweeted the DGCA.

Revealing the details of flights, DGCA in another tweet said, "Major airlines including Qatar Airways-81, KLM Dutch-68, Kuwait Air-41, British Airways-39, FlyDubai-38, Air France-32, Jazeera-30, Air Arabia-20, Gulf Air-19, Sri Lankan-19, Biman Bangladesh-15, Korean Air-14, Delta-13, Saudia-13 and Air Nippon-12 took part in the operations."

WATCH OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z review

"Additionally, Airlines like Air New Zealand-12, Thai Air Asia-11, United Airlines-11, Iraqi Airways-11, Oman Air-10, Ural Airlines-9, Lufthansa-8, Somon Air-8, Condour-8, Emirates-5, Etihad-5, Aeroflot-4 & Virgin Atlantic-4 also took part in the chartered operations," the DGCA said in another tweet.

Strict guidelines are being followed by airlines across the world. In the US, passengers who refuse to wear facial coverings during the novel coronavirus pandemic could have their flying privileges revoked, the industry`s main lobby group said on Monday. Major US airlines may prevent anyone not wearing a mask from boarding and provide the coverings to passengers who have none. Once on board, however, flight attendants have little power to enforce the policy if passengers remove their masks.

Carriers with the policy include Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines, Airlines for America said in a statement.