“The government has arranged a special Air India flight at the request of the Indian community in Egypt in view of the prevailing conditions there,” the external affairs ministry said in a statement here on Sunday.
“The special flight will carry 300 Indians, mainly women and children. The arrangements are being supervised by the Indian embassy in Cairo,” the ministry said.
“An Air India aircraft is expected here (Cairo) at 19.30 pm local time. It will leave for Mumbai at 9 pm local time and will hopefully reach there by 6 am Monday,” said India’s Ambassador to Egypt R Swaminathan.
Of the 3,600 Indians in Egypt, 2,200 are residents of Cairo. Official sources added that more such flights can be operated if the chaos spreads.
The embassy officials were present at the Cairo airport to assist Indians leaving Egypt.
Flight schedules in and out of Egypt have been disrupted for the last couple of days after anti-government protests broke out.
Due to the disruption in flights, the Indian government took a decision to send a commercial aircraft to Cairo to ferry Indians back home if they desired so.
“We are taking steps to bring back people who want to come back to India. We have advised Indians to avoid non-essential travel to Egypt,” said External Affairs Minister S M Krishna.