The special flight chartered by SriLankan Airlines, which set off to evacuate Sri Lankan students stuck in the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, has taken off from Wuhan at 4.05 am (China Local Time) this morning.
The charter flight (UL1423) carrying 33 Sri Lankan students is expected to land in Sri Lanka at 7.30 am local time.
The flight took off from Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) at around 3.55 pm last evening (31). It landed at the Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province where the novel coronavirus originated.
On Thursday, it was reported that the Government of China has expedited steps for Sri Lanka to land a special flight in Wuhan city in China. This is to evacuate the 33 Sri Lankan students and families currently residing in the province.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health stated that the quarantine plan is in place and ready to activate for the students who will be coming to Sri Lanka from the Wuhan city, once allowed.
Returning Sri Lankan students (also those who visited China due to other purposes during last 14 days) who were in China are advised to stay in their homes with minimal contacts with others for a period of 2 weeks from the day of arrival to Sri Lanka.
Following the direction of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the Ministry of Foreign Relations in coordination with the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Beijing, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka, facilitated the return of the 33 Sri Lankan students and their family members to Sri Lanka from Wuhan.
Acting Ambassador of Sri Lanka in Beijing K.K. Yoganaadan said the Government of Sri Lanka is thankful to the Chinese Government for expediting the process of clearance for the Sri Lankan aircraft to land in Wuhan, to fly the retuning students and their family members.
Over the past five days the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Beijing and the Consulates General in Shanghai and Guangzhou have coordinated the return to Sri Lanka of 627 students, in addition to the 33 students from Wuhan (total 660).
The Embassy and the Consulates are in the process of facilitating the return of those among the remaining 204 students, who wish to return to the country.
