5 Air India pilots test positive for coronavirus

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Five pilots of Air India have tested positive for coronavirus, airline sources said on Sunday.

All five affected pilots have been operating Boeing 787 Dreamliners.  The last time any of them operated a flight was on April 20. 

Air India, which is operating flights to evacuate Indians stranded in foreign countries, have asked its pilots to undertake coronavirus test before they operate such flights, the sources said.

“Five Air India pilots have tested positive for coronavirus. These pilots were tested one after one. We suspect it could be a case of faulty testing kit as well,” one of the sources told PTI.

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Air India spokesperson did not offer any comment.

The national carrier has been operating through the lockdown period, initially rescuing Indians stranded in COVID-19 nations, including Italy and Iran.

Currently they are engaged in ferrying back stranded Indians from various nations in what is possibly the biggest rescue operation since the Gulf war.

The phased rescue-op started from May 7 and the airline is expected to operate 64 flights in the first week to bring back around 15,000 Indians. More than 1,90,000 Indians have registered for the flights back home.

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(PTI News)

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Manish Khandelwal
Manish Khandelwal

Manish Khandelwal, a travel-tech enthusiast with over a decade of experience in the travel industry. Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Travelobiz.com, he's passionate about writing.

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