Vande Bharat Mission day 2: More Indians return from B'desh, Singapore and Gulf

The flight from London to Bengaluru delayed by a day, will take off on Saturday

The Government on Friday continued the “Vande Bharat Mission”, facilitating the repatriation of Indians, who were stranded in Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Singapore due to the travel and transport curbs imposed around the world to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

Air India and Air India express aircraft brought back citizens from Dubai to Chennai, Dhaka to Srinagar, Singapore to Delhi, Riyadh to Kozhikode and Manama to Kochi. An Indian Navy ship – INS Jalaswa – also departed from Male for Kochi on Friday with nearly 700 returnees, who were stranded in the Maldives. The ship is expected to reach Kochi on Sunday.

An Air India aircraft was initially scheduled to fly from London to Bengaluru on Friday, repatriating some of the Indians stranded in the United Kingdom. The flight has now been rescheduled to Saturday, due to a delay in COVID-19 tests for the crew of the aircraft. Three more Air India aircraft are likely to land in Bengaluru bringing in Indians stranded in Singapore and United States by May 15, when the first phase of the Vande Bharat Mission will come to its end.

The first flight on the second day of the mission brought to Delhi 234 citizens, who were stranded in Singapore. It was followed by another from Dhaka to Srinagar, with 168 Indians, mostly students of the medical colleges in Bangladesh. The Air India aircraft on Friday also brought home Indians stranded in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) and Manama (Bahrain).

The government launched the Vande Bharat Mission on Thursday, with two Air India Express aircraft bringing in 363 citizens from Dubai and Abu Dhabi to Kozhikode and Kochi.

Sources in New Delhi said that altogether 64 flights with approximately 15,000 returnees from 12 foreign countries onboard were expected to land at 14 airports across India during the first phase of the Vande Bharat Mission till May 15. A total number of 27 flights would take off from the Gulf during the first phase of the mission – eleven from the UAE alone, five each from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and two each from Bahrain, Qatar and Oman.

The first phase of the mission would see altogether seven Air India flights bringing in Indians stranded in Bangladesh. The flights will land in Srinagar, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. Besides, 14 flights would bring in citizens from the South-East Asian nations – five each from Singapore and the Philippines and four from Malaysia, sources in New Delhi said.

The government has planned seven flights from four airports in the United States– New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, and San Francisco – by May 15. Seven more flights would take off from London, bringing in stranded citizens from the United Kingdom, sources said.