Vande Bharat Mission: 58 more flights added to repatriate Indians stranded in Gulf

India has added 58 more flights to evacuate stranded and distressed nationals from Gulf countries between now and June 30, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday. He informed that staring immediately, the number of flights from Gulf under phase-3 of the 'Vande Bharat Mission' has now increased from originally planned 107 to 165.

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More flights to the West

The minister further said that Phase 3 of VBM will have 80 flights to Europe, including two daily flights to London and two to other European destinations, between now and 30 June. Moreover, 10 additional flights to the United States and Canada will be flown apart from 70 that have already been announced.

State-run carrier Air India had previously announced that it will operate around 300 flights to Europe, Australia, Canada, the USA, the UK and Africa between June 10 and July 1 during phase 3 of Vande Bharat Mission.

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'Mission of hope'

In an earlier tweet, Hardeep Singh Puri had said that the Vande Bharat Mission, started in early May to repatriate stranded Indians across the globe amid the COVID-19 pandemic, "is proving to be a mission of hope for stranded and distressed Indians" around the world.

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VBM phases

The first phase of the mission saw the repatriation of Indians from over 11 countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Maldives, Singapore, and the US. In the second phase of the mission, the Indian government brought back Indians from around 31 countries from May 16. The second phase was to end on May 22, however, the Indian government extended it to June 13, while adding more countries to the list such as Finland, South Korea, Belgium, New Zealand, Netherlands, Kenya, Mauritius, Spain, Myanmar, Egypt, and Sri Lanka.

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