Flights under the Vande Bharat Mission to evacuate stranded Non-Resident Indians have been extended till August 31 and the Air India group will operate 252 repatriation flights and Air India Express (AIE) 191 flights in Phase V.
The flights will be from cities in the United States, Canada, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Kaula Lumpur, United Kingdom, Frankfurt, Paris, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
While the flights of the Air India group will be from August 1 to 31, those of Air India Express will be for 15 days from August 1.
Flight details
Air India Express will operate flights from West Asia and South-East Asian countries to 16 airports in the country. Of the 191 flights, 68 flights are to Kerala with 22 to Kochi, 20 to Kozhikode, 14 to Thiruvananthapuram, and 12 to Kannur.
Airline sources said Air India Express had been permitted to fly passengers from India only to Singapore and Kaula Lumpur in this phase. Hundreds of Non-Resident Indians would be hit by the decision of the Civil Aviation Ministry not to allow people in flights to the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Doha, and Muscat.
In the July 12 to 26 period, those having valid United Arab Emirate’s Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) entry permit and resident visa were allowed to fly back to the UAE in the 98 Air India Express repatriation flights operated from nine airports in the country. “Talks are on with the UAE and Indian authorities to allow travel from the Indian airports to the UAE in Phase V,” airline sources said.
In the fourth phase of the Vande Bharat Mission, 1,197 flights, which included 945 international flights and 252 feeder flights, were operated by the Air India group, comprising IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir, to 34 airports. More than 8,14,000 stranded Indians have returned to the country under the mission since May 6.
