MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/. The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency has formed a schedule for repatriation flights until June 16, the agency’s press service informed on Monday.
The agency noted that since the start of the repatriation program on March 20, over 193,000 Russian compatriots have returned home.
"According to the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency working group, from March 20 to June 7, 2020, over 193,000 Russians have returned to the territory of the Russian Federation," the agency informed. "The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency has formed a preliminary return flight schedule within a working group until June 16."
Flight schedule
The agency informed that on June 8, a flight from Mexico City to Moscow carrying 100 Russian citizens is planned. Flights from Tel Aviv to Moscow, from Tashkent to Moscow and from Tokyo to Vladivostok are planned for June 9 set to transport over 620 Russians. On June 10, several flights are planned: Yerevan - Krasnodar - Mineralnye Vody; Cairo - Moscow; New York - St. Petersburg - Moscow; Phuket - Vladivostok; Dubai - Kazan.
On June 11, flights to Moscow from Denpasar and Bangkok are planned. Aeroflot will organize the transfer of those citizens to Kazan and Krasnoyarsk. On June 12, a flight from Cape Town to Casablanca and then to Moscow is planned, along with a flight from Paris to Moscow. On June 13, Moscow will receive flights from Goa, Bangkok, Osh and London.
"On June 14, Aeroflot plans to deliver Russians from Denpasar and Ho Chi Minh. On June 15, Aeroflot will deliver our compatriots to Moscow on two flights from Yerevan and Antalya, transporting some of them to Kazan and Makhachkala. A flight operated by Royal Flight is expected for June 15 from Dubai to Moscow. On June 16, a flight operated by Aeroflot from Delhi to Moscow is planned," the agency added.
The agency stressed that the schedule may be expanded taking into account new applications by Russian nationals.
COVID-19 pandemic
Due to mass cancelation of international flights caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic, thousands of Russians have been stranded abroad. Special exit flights are organized for their evacuation.
In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.
On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 7,100,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 406,300 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 3,466,500 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.
As of June 8, a total of 476,658 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 230,688 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 5,971 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.