UAE:13/6/20: A total of 215 distressed Odias in UAE will be repatriated tomorrow (14 June 2020) by the first-ever chartered flight from Sharjah to Bhubaneswar.
The Odia Society in UAE, led from the front by Dr. Chandrasekhar Khuntia, received many social media messages and phone calls from distressed Odias seeking assistance to send them back to their homeland.
In addition to the Indian Government’s Vande Bharat mission, this chartered flight has been arranged to help repatriate all the stranded Odias here in the UAE.
This is in consultation with the Consul General of India to UAE, ministry of external affairs, Govt. of India, Govt. of UAE and Air Arabia for repatriation of Odias on a special flight, Dr. Khuntia added.
The chartered flight operated by Air Arabia is scheduled to take off from Sharjah International Airport on 14th June 2020 at 8:00 AM and land at Bhubaneswar airport at 1:00 PM.
“We are looking after the needs of Odias here in UAE, especially those in need like the blue-collar workers by supplying them grocery items and financial help ever since the lockdown was put in place. We have also paid for 15 tickets for our fellow Odias, who could not afford them. We are happy that 215 Odias are traveling by the chartered flight with Capt. Madhusmita Pattnaik, Pilot, Air Arabia so that they can celebrate Odisha’s popular festival Raja Parba with their families,” said Dr. Khuntia.