Vande Bharat Mission: Air India to operate additional repatriation flights to six countries

Air India said it will operate additional repatriation flights to six countries between June 4 and June 6 to bring back stranded Indians under the phase 2 of Vande Bharat Mission.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the six countries where these flights will operate are the US, New Zealand, the UK, Sweden, Germany and South Korea.

On Twitter, the national carrier said it will operate Delhi-Auckland flight on June 4, Delhi-Chicago flight and Delhi-Stockholm flight on June 5.

It said it will operate Mumbai-London flight and Mumbai-Newark flight on June 6.

It added it will run flights on Delhi-New York route, Delhi-Frankfurt route and Delhi-Seoul route on June 6.

The Narendra Modi government started the Vande Bharat Mission on May 7 to bring stranded Indians home on a payment basis amid the coronavirus lockdown. It also permitted foreign nationals and valid visa holders to book seats on these outbound flights.

Under phase one of the mission, Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express operated 64 flights to bring 14,800 Indians home from 12 countries between May 7 and May 14. Phase two of the mission began on May 16.