Coronavirus COVID-19: Air India flight with 171 Indians on board lands in Chennai from Kuwait

As part of Vande Bharat Mission launched by the Centre to evacuate Indians stranded across the world due to coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, a relief flight from Kuwait landed in Chennai on Sunday (May 10).

The Airindia Express IX 396 from Kuwait with 171 Indians on board landed at  21.34 Hrs at Chennai International Airport. The passengers included 107 male, 60 female and 4 infants.

One of the passnegers was wheel chair bound. All passengers were facilitated for smooth Customs Clearance.

Another Air India evacuation flight carrying Indians, who were stranded in the Philippines, arrived in Mumbai, said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday.

“Air India flight 1387 carrying Indians from Manila, Philippines has arrived in Mumbai. Thank @airindiain, @MoCA_GoI, Bureau of Immigration& Maharashtra Govt fr support& cooperation. Commend Amb @JaideepMazumda2 & his Team @indembmanila fr the sterling effort,” Jaishankar tweeted.

An evaucation flight also took off from London's Heathrow Airport on Sunday afternoon, carrying 323 passengers. The flight landed at Bengaluru airport in Karnatak.

The first evacuation flight from the United States took off from the San Francisco International Airport on Sunday, with over 200 Indians on board. It is learnt that seven flights have been scheduled from the US.

The Vande Bharat Mission has been launched by the Centre to bring back around 14,800 stranded Indians from 12 countries on 64 AI flights.

A total of seven special evacuation flights will be operated on Monday (May 11) on the 5th day of the mission. The flights are - London to Delhi to Bengaluru, San Francisco to Mumbai to Hyderabad, Dhaka to Mumbai, Dubai to Kochi, Abu Dhabi to Hyderabad, Kaula Lampur to Chennai&Bahrain to Kozhikode.