Vande Bharat Mission: Air India operates over 2,800 flights worldwide amid lockdown

Air India has operated more than 2,800 flights and flew over 3 lakh passengers worldwide so far under the Vande Bharat Mission amid the coronavirus outbreak. The fifth phase of the Government of India's 'Vande Bharat' mission will commence early next month on August 1. The mission aims at evacuating Indian nationals stranded in various foreign countries owing to restrictions on air travel.

"Air India under Vande Bharat Mission Operated more than 2800 flights and flown more than 3 lakh, 80 thousand passengers worldwide till now," Air India said in a tweet on Thursday.

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Earlier in a statement, the government-owned Airline also said under Vande Bharat Mission they have already brought back more than 2.5 lakh stranded Indians from 53 countries.

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Over 7.88 lakh Indians return under Vande Bharat Mission

Under the fourth phase of the Vande Bharat Mission over 7.88 lakh Indians stranded abroad due to coronavirus pandemic have returned till July 22, Ministry of External Affairs had said. A total of 1,197 flights have been scheduled for the stranded Indians including 945 international flights and 252 feeder flights, MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said at a media briefing on July 23.

The repatriation flights are operated by the Air India group, IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir. They cover 29 countries and will be reaching 34 airports in India, Srivastava said.

Out of these flights, 694 have reached India as on July 22, repatriating nearly one lakh people so far, he added. Phase 4 of the Vande Bharat mission is expected to continue until August 2 and by this time around 80,000 more people are expected to return, Srivastava said. The Vande Bharat Mission was started on May 7 by the Government of India.

READ | Over 6.87 lakh Indians have returned under Vande Bharat mission: MEA

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(With inputs from Agencies)