First repatriation flight lands in Australia as India travel ban ends

The controversial ban expired at midnight on Friday.

The plane landed in Darwin on Saturday morning after picking up vulnerable passengers from New Delhi. However, 72 passengers were barred from flying after 48 tested positive for Covid-19 and others were deemed close contacts.

The 80 passengers are the first people to enter Australia from India since the federal government made it a criminal offence to do so at the end of April in response to the surging coronavirus crisis in India.

The plane carrying approximately 80 Australian returned travelers who were stranded in India.

Initially, the flight was scheduled to carry 150 travellers, just over half of those booked were cleared to board the plane.

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), those who test positive for novel coronavirus, or were deemed close contacts, have to remain in India until they return a negative test while those that were able to board, will quarantine for 14 days at the Howard Springs facility outside of Darwin.

Since March 2020, Australians have been barred from travelling overseas and nearly, 10,000 Australians and their immediate family members in India are seeking to return home.

In India hundreds of thousands of new coronavirus cases are being detected every day, and the death toll is soaring.