By Sophia Ankel
A demand for private jets boomed as Indians who could afford it scrambled to escape a second coronavirus wave.Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana via Reuters
India's ultra-rich are paying tens and thousands of dollars to escape the country as it set a new global record for daily coronavirus infections - for the fourth day in a row.
In the last week, India has become the new epicenter of the virus, which has completely overwhelmed the country's healthcare system and crematoriums and has led to a dire shortage of oxygen.
On Sunday, public health officials reported 349,691 new COVID-19 cases in the country, according to Sky News. They also reported 2,767 deaths, another daily record, as some nations announced they would implement travel restrictions on visitors from India.
The alarming numbers are prompting wealthy Indians to pay thousands for last-minute flights and private jets as travel restrictions come into place.
One popular destination seems to be the United Arab Emirates, which is only a short distance away from India and usually operates hundreds of flights there. It announced this week that it was barring the entry of travelers from India for 10 days from April 25, according to Gulf News.
A spokesman for charter company Air Charter Service India told AFP that the amount of interest in private jets has been "absolutely crazy."
"We have 12 flights going to Dubai tomorrow and each flight is completely full," the spokesman said Friday, according to The Economic Times. Another private jet provider, Enthral Aviation, said it has been overwhelmed by hundreds of inquiries over the last few days.
"We have requested more aircraft from abroad to meet the demand ... It costs $38,000 to hire a 13-seater jet from Mumbai to Dubai and $31,000 to hire a six-seater aircraft," an Enthral Aviation spokesperson said, according to The Economic Times.
"People are making groups and arranging to share our jets just to get a seat... We've had some queries for Thailand but mostly the demand is for Dubai," they added.
According to the Sunday Times, at least eight private jets were flown to Britain from India in the last 24 hours as the UK implemented its own travel ban on the country. It is reported that the jets may have cost more than $138,000 (£100,000) to charter for the nine-hour flight.
India's richest people are fleeing on private jets as the country hits almost 350,000 COVID-19 infections in another daily global record
A COVID-19 patient gets admitted to a government hospital in Kolkata, India, on April 22, 2021.Indranil Aditya/NurPhoto via Getty Images
India has been facing an unexpected and devastating second coronavirus wave. A shocking video from the BBC, published Thursday, showed people dying on stretchers while waiting for help outside a hospital.
In New Delhi, which has been hit particularly hard, one person is said to be dying of COVID-19 every four minutes.
The US government said on Saturday that it was seriously concerned about the worsening situation in the country and that it was in high-level talks to deploy extra help to Indian healthcare workers.
"Our hearts go out to the Indian people in the midst of the horrific COVID-19 outbreak," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Twitter. "We are working closely with our partners in the Indian government, and we will rapidly deploy additional support to the people of India and India's health care heroes."
Saudi Arabia is shipping 80 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen to India as the country is running low on supplies due to an unprecedented spike in coronavirus cases.
India logged a record of 3,49,691 new coronavirus infections in a day on Sunday, taking its total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,69,60,172. The death toll increased to 1,92,311 with a record 2,767 daily new fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
The supply shipment is being undertaken in cooperation with the Adani group and Linde company.
"Embassy of India is proud to partner with Adani group and M/s Linde in shipping much-needed 80MT liquid oxygen to India. Our heartfelt thanks to the Ministry of Health Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for all their help, support, and cooperation,” the Indian mission in Riyadh tweeted.
"Thank you @IndianEmbRiyadh Indeed, actions speak louder than words. We are on an urgent mission to secure oxygen supplies from across the world. This first shipment of 4 ISO cryogenic tanks with 80 tons of liquid oxygen is now on its way from Dammam to Mundra,” Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani said in a tweet.
India is struggling with a second wave of the pandemic with more than 3,00,000 daily new coronavirus cases being reported in the past few days, and hospitals in several States are reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and beds.
To combat the growing demand for oxygen in the country, India has reached out to various countries to procure containers and oxygen cylinders under operation 'Oxygen Maitri'.
The Indian Air Force on Saturday brought four cryogenic tanks, to be used for transporting oxygen, from Singapore. The containers were airlifted from Singapore by C17 heavy-lift aircraft of the IAF.
The aircraft "with 4 cryogenic containers for storage of liquid O2 from Singapore landed at Panagarh airbase" in West Bengal on Saturday, a home ministry spokesperson tweeted.
The IAF was also transporting essential medicines as well as equipment required by the designated COVID-19 hospitals in various parts of the country.
On Friday, the Union Home Ministry said it was in talks for the import of high-capacity oxygen-carrying tankers from Singapore and the UAE.
Meanwhile, President of the European Council Charles Michel said in a tweet, "The EU stands in solidarity with Indian people amidst resurgent COVID19 pandemic. The fight against the virus is a common fight. We will discuss our support and cooperation at EU-India Leaders' meeting on 8 May with @narendramodi and @antoniocostapm".
French President Emmanuel Macron has also extended support to India.
In a tweet shared by the Indian embassy in France, Mr Macron said, "I want to send a message of solidarity to the Indian people, facing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. France is with you in this struggle, which spares no one. We stand ready to provide our support."