AUSTRALIA has bowed to criticism that it was leaving citizens trapped in India, where coronavirus is out of control, announcing today that repatriation flights will resume after a ban on travel from the country expires next Saturday.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that “vulnerable” citizens would have priority for seats on planes.

Australian officials justified the ban, under which Australian citizens who return home could be jailed, by citing the high rate of infections recorded in arrivals from India, which was putting the quarantine system under stress.