New Delhi: National carrier Air India on Wednesday said it will be operating 75 flights from India to select destinations in the United States and Canada under the Vande Bharat Mission.
“Under #MissionVandeBharat, AI will be operating 75 flights from India to select destinations in the USA and Canada from June 9 to 30, 2020. Bookings on these flights, ex India only, will tentatively be open from 1700 hours on June 5, 2020, only through Air India website,” Air India tweeted.
Earlier in the day, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that Air India will operate 70 flights in the third phase of Vande Bharat Mission to evacuate Indians stranded in the US and Canada between June 11 to June 30.
AirIndia has announced that it will open bookings from 1700 hrs on 5 June for 75 additional flights to destinations in US & Canada including New York, Newark, Chicago, Washington, SFO, Vancouver & Toronto under 3rd Phase of Vande Bharat Mission between 9-30 June 2020.@MoCA_GoI
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) June 3, 2020
Puri wrote on Twitter, “More flights being added to Mission Vande Bharat to enable stranded and distressed Indians to return home. Air India will operate 70 flights to destinations in USA and Canada under Phase 3 of the mission from June 11-30, 2020.”
Air India brought 3,891 people from Dubai, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Bahrain, Salalah, Moscow, Kiev, Madrid, Tokyo, Dhaka, Bishkek, Almaty, Riyadh and Dammam on June 1. More than 50,000 stranded Indians have been evacuated under the Vande Bharat Mission.
The government plans to evacuate another 100,000 by June 13, the minister said. More than 57,000 citizens have returned to India on flights being operated under Vande Bharat Mission since May 6.
The massive repatriation exercise was launched on May 7. In the first phase of the mission from May 7 to 15, Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express operated 64 flights to bring back around 15,000 people from 12 countries. (ANI)
