Help has arrived! Air India plane lands in Bucharest to evacuate Indians stranded in Ukraine
Ukrainian airspace has been closed for civil aircraft operations since the morning of February 24 and therefore, the evacuation flights are operating out of Bucharest and Budapest.
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Mumbai, Feb 26: In a major relief for Indian nationals stuck in the war-torn country, Air India plane which was departed from Mumbai airport on Saturday morning has now landed at the Romanian capital, Bucharest, to evacuate Indians stranded in Ukraine due to the Russian military offensive.
The flight, AI1943, took off from the Mumbai airport at around 3.40 AM and has been landed at Bucharest airport at around 10.45 AM (Indian Standard Time), senior government officials said.
#FlyAI : @TataCompanies pic.twitter.com/f3lyxD08nX
— Air India (@airindia) February 25, 2022
Indian nationals who have reached the Ukraine-Romania border by road are being taken to Bucharest by Indian government officials so that they can be evacuated in the Air India flight. Air India will operate more flights on Saturday to Bucharest and the Hungarian capital, Budapest, to evacuate Indians stranded in Ukraine.
Big Breaking: Govt charter Air India flights to leave for Romania, Hungary to bring back evacuated Indian students from war torn Ukriane https://t.co/UPzzrHofTb pic.twitter.com/kZm20cwUWI
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) February 25, 2022
Ukrainian airspace has been closed for civil aircraft operations since the morning of February 24 and therefore, the evacuation flights are operating out of Bucharest and Budapest. Around 20,000 Indians, mainly students, are currently stranded in Ukraine, the officials said.
Before the closure of the Ukrainian airspace, Air India had conducted one flight to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on February 22 that brought 240 people back to India.
It had planned to operate two more flights on February 24 and February 26 but it could not do so as the Russian offensive began on February 24 and the Ukrainian airspace was consequently shut down.
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