The Qantas flight departed New Delhi just after 12am AEST on Saturday and was due to touch down in the Northern Territory at 9.50am AEST. QF112 arrived ahead of schedule, landing at 9.21am. Passengers will spend two weeks quarantining at Howard Springs. Nearly half of the 150 Australians booked on the flight were not able to board due to their COVID-19 results. It’s understood a total of 72 were turned around after 48 people tested positive and a further 24 were deemed close contacts. Australians wanting to return home must be tested 72 hours or less prior to their scheduled flight, which needs to come back negative in order to fly. It’s understood the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade worked to fill the flight with more passengers, but the pre-flight testing window proved an obstacle. The next government repatriation flight from India is expected to arrive in Darwin on May 23. On the way to India the Qantas plane was loaded with vital supplies, including ventilators and oxygen, which Australia has donated to the subcontinent as it battles a deadly second wave of the coronavirus.
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