Vande Bharat 2.0! 149 flights to bring back Stranded Indians from 31 countries' Know deets inside-

New Delhi, May 13: Following the first phase of India's one of the biggest repatriation operations 'Vande Bharat Mission', the government is set to operate the second phase of Vande Bharat Mission from May 16 to 22. During this II phase, Air India will operate 149 flights to bring back Indian stranded citizens from 31 countries.

 

 

 

Out of the 149 flights, the maximum number of flights during the second phase will be from the US (13), the UAE (11), Canada (10), Saudi Arabia, and the UK (nine each) and Malaysia and Oman (eight each).

 

 

There will also be flights from Kazakhstan and Australia (seven each), Ukraine, Qatar, Indonesia and Russia (six each), the Philippines (five), France, Singapore, Ireland and Kyrgyzstan (four each), Kuwait and Japan (three each), Georgia, Germany, Tajikistan, Bahrain and Armenia (two each), and Thailand, Italy, Belarus, Nigeria.

 

Among the neighboring countries, there have been flights from Bangladesh in the first week. In the second week, there will be a flight each to Nepal and Afghanistan. The highest number of repatriation flights would be flying to the USA.

 

 

“Each function in this massive air evacuation mission strictly adheres to the safety and hygiene protocol laid down by the government and the DGCA. MoCA, AAI, and Air India leave no stone unturned to prioritize the safety of passengers, the crew and ground handling staff in these sensitive medical evacuation missions,” an official statement said.

 

Earlier, the Ministry of Home Affairs has also issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the evacuation and has said that it will prioritize the distressed in foreign countries. MEA has developed a dynamic online platform on which requests received by Indian Missions from Indian nationals wishing to return are regularly being uploaded.

 

However, the government of India started Vande Bharat Mission - one of the largest initiatives to repatriate nationals back to India, on 7th May 2020. Under this mission, the Ministry of Civil Aviation is coordinating with the Ministry of External Affairs and state Governments for bringing Indians back to their homeland.

 

During the first five days of the Vande Bharat mission, Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express have operated 31 inbound flights and A total of 6,037 Indians have been flown back to India in 31 inbound flights. The Indian Navy has also been participating in the repatriation mission. The INS Jalashwa and INS Magar will be bringing back approximately 900 Indian citizens by the May 15.