Stranded Chinese in India are going home via Europe, at almost 10 times pre-pandemic cost

When William Li arrived in India in early January for a three-month business trip, he never expected he would still be stranded there some seven months later - or that his return journey to East China would take almost seven times longer than his outbound flight.

The 38-year-old supply chain manager for a multinational manufacturing company is among the hundreds of Chinese nationals who became stranded in India when international travel ground to a halt in March amid the coronavirus pandemic.

India began the process of restarting commercial passenger services in July by opening up what are referred to as "air transport bubbles" with countries including Canada, Germany and France. No such agreement has yet been made with China, however, leaving the 2,000 or so Chinese citizens who could not secure a seat on flights chartered by the embassy - like Li - with little choice but to go the long way round if they want to go home.

It was never going to be an easy journey, but Li missed his wife and 11-year-old son. "I used to return home every 90 days - this time it had been too long," he said. "My wife was having a hard time taking care of the family by herself."

He had also seen that only three of the more than 100 Chinese expatriates at his company had managed to get on one of the first five chartered flights arranged by the embassy in early June, and did not know if he would have any more luck with three further flights set to depart in late August.

Although the factory he was working at began to restart operations in a limited capacity from mid-May, Li opted to work from home out of fear of infection and mostly stayed indoors, biding his time.

Some of his colleagues had already left on commercial flights, returning to China via Germany in late July. Li initially had a ticket to return via Turkey - but five days before he was set to depart, Istanbul stopped accepting transit passengers on flights from India.

Fortunately, the Germany route was still available and Li's opportunity to go home finally came on August 15, when he boarded a plane in Chennai on India's east coast. He would not arrive at his destination of Nanjing, however, until almost three days later. The 70-hour slog took him halfway around the world, from India to Europe and then back across Asia again.

Yet before he could leave the world's third-worst hit country by the pandemic - India recently surpassed 3 million coronavirus cases with more than 56,000 deaths - Li had to take a somewhat daunting domestic flight to the financial capital of Mumbai.

"We were armed to the teeth on the flight from Chennai to Mumbai," he said, referring to the head-to-toe personal protective equipment that he and the 29 colleagues he was travelling with were wearing.

"But after reaching Frankfurt, people stopped wearing protective suits and only kept masks on."

Frankfurt airport was filled with overseas Chinese, Li said, from India and other places around the globe from which it is difficult to fly direct to China amid the pandemic, such as the United States. He and his colleagues had to wait in the airport for 10 hours for their connecting flight home.

A member of staff points towards a coronavirus testing station at Frankfurt Airport. Photo: DPA alt=A member of staff points towards a coronavirus testing station at Frankfurt Airport. Photo: DPA

Despite the ordeal, which also included an earlier overnight stay in Mumbai in anticipation of flight delays or cancellations, Li said he feels fortunate to have made it back home.

Not only because he will get to see his family and enjoy his favourite meal of Langfang-style dumplings - once he is out of quarantine - but also because in the days since he arrived back in China, tightened regulations requiring travellers from Germany to have had a negative coronavirus test before departure have been introduced, upending other travellers' plans.

Then there is the question of price. Li's tickets were paid for by his employer, but other stranded Chinese may not be able to afford the sky-high airfare - with the cost of travelling between India and China having increased by as much as 10 times since the start of the year, thanks to the roundabout routes travellers are being forced to take.

Li and his colleagues, in personal protective gear, pictured upon their arrival in Nanjing. Photo: William Li alt=Li and his colleagues, in personal protective gear, pictured upon their arrival in Nanjing. Photo: William Li

One businessman, who only wanted to be known as Alan, said he had paid some 23,000 yuan (US$3,325) to fly from New Delhi to Shanghai via Paris on August 16. Even the chartered flight from India in June that had been organised by the Chinese embassy cost passengers about 10,000 yuan each.

Those who have been left behind may find themselves running out of options, however. Especially with the uncertainties they could face trying to get an extension on their visas, as India steps up curbs on Chinese activity in the country amid nosediving bilateral relations.

A Chinese worker in Chennai who did not want to be named told of how he had been forced to live one month to the next, never knowing if the authorities would keep renewing his visa.

"I have applied four times for visa extensions so far and they only approve for one month every time," he said. "I am still waiting for my ticket [home]."

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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