The first chartered flight to take Hong Kong residents stranded in India home is tentatively scheduled to depart New Delhi on May 17 at the earliest.

The flight will first assist Hong Kong residents who are now located in New Delhi and those in its surrounding areas with special needs, such as people with illness, pregnant women and children as well as family members travelling with them.

In the past few days, the Immigration Department has individually contacted assistance seekers to confirm their wishes to take the chartered flight and to obtain their personal information for applying for travel permission from the local government.

As the department is still contacting the assistance seekers concerned, the final number of passengers to be carried by the flight is yet to be confirmed, though it is expected to be more than 200.

The cost of taking the flight is estimated to be about $8,000 per person at most and will be borne by the users.

The exact date and time of departure are still subject to the approval time of and the facilitation provided by the local government, land traffic situations and relevant permissions received by airlines.

Upon arrival in Hong Kong, the people taking the flight will proceed to the Temporary Specimen Collection Centre at AsiaWorld-Expo for compulsory COVID-19 testing.

After their samples are collected, the returnees will be transferred to the quarantine centre at Chun Yeung Estate for a 14-day quarantine.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, India has banned all international flight movements since late March.

As of May 10, the department successfully contacted about 3,500 Hong Kong residents stranded in India, who requested for assistance in returning to Hong Kong.

The Government understands that there are still many Hong Kong residents stranded in different areas of the country and will continue to liaise with them closely and assist them in returning to Hong Kong in batches subject to the circumstances.

It will contact them as soon as further information is available.