The Indian rich have spent a lot of money fleeing the Covid-19 ‘storm’

When the number of new cases of Covid-19 in the country set a world record, the rich in India spent thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars to buy plane tickets or rent a private jet to flee abroad ‘to avoid storms. ‘ Disease.
Last week, India became the new epicenter of the Covid-19 epidemic in the world. The number of cases skyrocketed and pushed the national health system on the brink of collapse. Hospitals are overcrowded, unable to receive more patients for treatment and the shortage of medical oxygen has caused many deaths just outside or on the way to the hospital.

The morgue and crematorium are operating at full capacity, but still not enough to meet demand when the epidemic storm swept the country. Air fares and demand for private jets abroad have skyrocketed in India over the past few days. Photo: Reuters On April 26, the Worldometers page reported that the number of new infections in India in the past 24 hours reached 354,531 people, the 5th consecutive day setting a world record for the number of cases per day. The total number of deaths due to the epidemic is currently 195,116, an increase of 2,806 from a day earlier. In New Delhi alone, it is estimated that one person per 4 minutes from the virus dies. Many countries vowed to impose travel restrictions on tourists from India. Negative developments have caused wealthy people in the world’s second-most populous country to rush to find a way to catch the last flight or take a private jet to leave the country, before “banning” orders. effective. According to Gulf News, one of their favorite destinations is the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is only a short distance from India and often has hundreds of flights to and from each day. The UAE has announced a ban on visitors originating from India for 10 days from April 25. The price list listed on the websites shows that the fare for one-way commercial flights from Mumbai to Dubai on April 23-24 is about 80,000 rupees (over $ 1,000), 10 times more than normal . Fares for the New Delhi – Dubai route are more than 50,000 rupees (approximately 700 USD), 5 times more than a week ago. The Economic Times newspaper on April 23 quoted a spokesperson for the Indian aircraft rental service company, revealed that the need to rent a private jet was “terribly escalating”. Only on April 24, the company has 12 flights to Dubai and all flights are full. Another private jet carrier, Enthral Aviation, said the company was also overwhelmed by hundreds of bookings in recent days. That forced the airline to hire more planes from abroad to meet demand. The cost of renting a 13-seater aircraft from Mumbai to Dubai is US $ 38,000 and a 6-seater aircraft for the same itinerary is US $ 31,000. To save money, some people team up to rent planes together. Enthral Aviation also received a few requests to Thailand, but the most booked destination is still Dubai. According to the Sunday Times, at least eight private jets from India arrived in the UK on April 24 before London imposed a ban on entry to the South Asian country. The day before, fares for one-way commercial flights from Mumbai or New Delhi to the UK capital were around 100,000 – 150,000 rupees ($ 1,337 to 2,007), double the normal price, but also ran out of space. . Seats on commercial flights from India to the US over the weekend are still available, but prices are generally double as usual.