Vande Bharat Mission: Air India to operate 70 more flights from June 11 to bring back Indians from US, Canada

Air India will operate 70 more flights to airlift Indians who stuck in the US and Canada. The services are scheduled between June 11 and June 30, said civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri in a tweet Monday.

Puri wrote, ”More flights being added to Mission Vande Bharat to enable stranded & distressed Indians to return home.@airindiain will operate 70 flights to destinations in USA & Canada under Phase 3 of the Mission from 11-30 June 2020.”

The move comes as the Indian aviation ministry was receiving numerous requests to restart international flights. In another tweet, Puri said, ”Numerous citizens have been approaching us to restart international flights. Several factors need to be addressed. Many international destinations are not allowing incoming passenger traffic, except for their own citizens or diplomats.”

More flights being added to Mission Vande Bharat to enable stranded & distressed Indians to return home.

@airindiain will operate 70 flights to destinations in USA & Canada under Phase 3 of the Mission from 11-30 June 2020.@MEAIndia @MoCA_GoI @PIB_India

— Hardeep Singh Puri (मोदी का परिवार) (@HardeepSPuri) June 1, 2020

The Vande Bharat Mission was commenced by the Indian government on May 7 to bring stranded Indians home amid the COVID-19 pandemic from foreign land on a payment basis. It also allowed foreign nationals and valid visa holders to book seats on these outbound flights.

At the same time, on Monday (June 1, 2020) around 3800 people were repatriated to India from Dubai, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Bahrain, Salalah, Moscow, Kiev, Madrid, Tokyo, Dhaka, Bishkek, Almaty, Riyadh and Dammam under the Vande Bharat Mission.