New Delhi (NVI): More than 8 lakh Indians stranded abroad were repatriated under Vande Bharat Mission since May 6, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said.
In addition to this, the fifth phase of the Vande Bharat Mission will also begin from August 1 to bring back more stranded Indians from abroad and it will continue till August 31.
In a tweet, Puri said that, “More than 814K stranded Indians have returned through various means under VBM since 6 May 2020, out of which more than 270K returned on flights from 53 countries.”
“Now we prepare to dovetail Phase-4 of VBM into Phase-5 from 1st August 2020 & bring back more Indian citizens,” he added.
Among other destinations, Ph-5 will connect India with USA, Canada, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Singapore, UK, Frankfurt, Paris, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, New Zealand , Philippines & more.
Like we did earlier, more destinations & flights will be added as this phase progresses.
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) July 26, 2020
In another tweet, the minister said that, “Among other destinations, Ph-5 will connect India with USA, Canada, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Singapore, UK, Frankfurt, Paris, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, New Zealand , Philippines & more. Like we did earlier, more destinations & flights will be added as this phase progresses.”
Puri also said that further details about ticket bookings will be shared by Air India and other airlines shortly.
Meanwhile, the scheduled international passenger flights continue to remain suspended in India.
Under the Vande Bharat Mission, the special international charter flights have been operating since May 6 to help stranded people reach their destinations amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Various international charter flights, by the foreign airlines as well as the Indian airlines, have been operating outside this mission too.
However, scheduled domestic passenger flights started operating from May 25, after a gap of two months due to the coronavirus lockdown.
-RJV
