A KLM flight from Amsterdam to New Delhi was forced to turn around midair, after an alleged “inter-ministry confusion” over India's coronavirus regulations.
India had banned "arriving passengers" from the UK and Europe with effect from March 18. And, from Sunday (22), a one-week ban on all incoming international commercial flights will come into force.
Passengers on the KLM flight, which had been due to arrive in Delhi early Saturday, included a pregnant woman who needed medical treatment on returning to Amsterdam.
The aircraft was told late Friday "to return to its point of departure due to operational reasons while it was still airborne", said an official, requesting anonymity.
"Delhi does not have permission to land (planes), so we don't know why KLM decided to fly out from Amsterdam despite a clear advisory from the Indian government."
One of the 120 or so passengers, also speaking anonymously, said that the announcement that they were going back was made over Russia around four hours into the flight.
The Hindu newspaper reported that the aircraft had around 100 Indians on board who had started their journeys in the US and Canada.
The flight was also meant to bring home a number of Dutch citizens from India, it added.
Despite the bar on flights from Europe, the Indian foreign ministry gave clearance to the KLM flight because the passengers were only transiting through Amsterdam, according to the Hindu.
But India's Ministry of Civil Aviation, however, concluded that all passengers from Europe were barred, “regardless of what their port of origin was”. Hence, the plane was asked to head back to the Netherlands.
"We don't know what to do... Please help," one passenger said in a Twitter video, apparently shot at Schipol.
Tejus Vispute, the husband in India of the pregnant woman, said his wife had been admitted to hospital after landing back in Amsterdam and later discharged.
"Once the flight turned back mid-air, my wife got really stressed out. She's around six months pregnant," Vispute told AFP, adding that "the crew was very supportive".
Indian officials said the government was looking at ways to reach out and help its nationals stranded across the world, and was deploying Air Force and Air India aircraft for evacuation missions.
The latest one was scheduled for Saturday (21), with an Air India 787 Dreamliner taking off for Rome to bring back about 230 people who had tested negative for novel coronavirus.
India, on Saturday, reported 275 confirmed coronavirus cases and four deaths.
