Highlights
- Family members of Australians with travel exemptions scramble for seats on limited flights from India
- Families stranded offshore face spiralling airfares and hotel quarantine bills
- Melbourne has extended its restrictions on international flights till 8 August, while Sydney has further reduced the number of arrivals
It took Surbhi Kulhan many days and multiple attempts to get an exemption from Australia’s coronavirus travel ban.
Just when she was counting days until she could reunite with her partner who is a permanent resident based in Melbourne, Ms Kulhan’s flight to Melbourne was cancelled at the last minute, shrinking her window to return home.
“We got married in December last year and came to India in March to celebrate our marriage with our families. While my husband managed to return to Melbourne in June, I could not since I am a temporary visa holder and needed an exemption to travel as an immediate family member of an Australian resident,” she says.
'Life has become a race full of hurdles - First exemption, then flights and now capping'
The 29-year-old who quit her job to travel to India says she would have never taken those decisions had she known that returning to Australia would become an “impossible task.”
“First, I struggled to get my exemption approved, then to book a ticket on an Air India flight which was nothing short of winning a jackpot. Then it got postponed twice and was eventually cancelled after the Victorian government refused to take any international arrivals. Life has become a race full of hurdles,” she says.
Surbhi Kulhan with her husband Sachin Bisht, snapshot of her exemption approval. Source: Supplied
As per the current restrictions, an immediate family member of an Australian citizen or permanent resident (being spouse, de facto partner, dependent child and legal guardian) is also required to apply for exemption from Australia's coronavirus-induced travel ban.
'Capping on international arrivals means further delays'
Melbourne has declared it will not be accepting any international passengers until at least 8 August. Sydney has further reduced the number of overseas arrivals from 450 to just 350 passengers each day, while incoming capacity for other states has also been significantly reduced.
For hundreds of families stranded in India, a majority of whom are Australian citizens and residents and their immediate family members, the capping has come at a time when the third phase of Air India flights has just ended. It is the only airline currently flying from India to Australia and the next phase is yet to be announced.
Melbourne-based Satwinder Singh, whose newly-wedded wife is also stuck in India despite getting an exemption, says the surge in coronavirus cases in Victoria has aggravated his woes.
Satwinder Singh with his wife Jaspreet Kaur. Source: Supplied
“Right now, they are saying the restrictions on flights in Melbourne will remain till 8 August but given the circumstances, it seems this deadline will be further stretched,” says a disheartened Mr Singh who is anxious to start his new life alongside his wife Jaspreet Kaur.
“I’d like to appeal to the Australian government to either send mercy flights to India to bring back our families or allow flights from India to land,” he adds.
'Returning home is going to be a costly affair'
Ever since the federal government announced its decision to cap international arrivals on 12 July, only close to 100 passengers from India have flown into Australia.
While another 50 are expected to land on CapaJet’s charter flight in Perth on Sunday, Saurabh Jolly, an Australian businessman caught out by capping and travel restrictions, claims the tickets for those limited seats were snapped within minutes despite their steep prices.
Saurabh Jolly with his family. Source: Supplied
“There were just 50 seats which were booked within minutes even though an economy seat was priced at over $3,300 per person. And this is an indication of things to come. Limited flights will fly on this route with a reduced number of seats which will be offered at high prices,” he says.
Mr Jolly who has been trying to return to Australia along with his wife and two children since March says he fears that with the cost of quarantine now added to their scaling expenses – “returning home is going to be a rather costly affair.”
“The price of return whenever that would happen for a family of four like mine is going to very high. The struggle is real - first shell thousands on your prolonged stay in India, then pay triple the amount for a one-way flight ticket and then fork out thousands for two weeks stay in hotel quarantine,” he says.
People in Australia must stay at least 1.5 metres away from others. Check your state’s restrictions on gathering limits.
If you are experiencing cold or flu symptoms, stay home and arrange a test by calling your doctor or contact the Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080.
