Air India evacuation flightAir India evacuation flight

Air India, India’s national carrier will operate more flights to various destinations around the globe including the  US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand under the third phase of Mission Vande Bharat, between 10 June -01 July (Air India’s Schedule online for Phase III) to repatriate Indians stranded abroad, civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in a tweet late on Monday June 1.

“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,” he said.

A 16 pages long Vande Bharat Mission – Phase III schedule has been uploaded on Air India’s website listing all 356 flights the airline will undertake during its Phase III evacuations.

There are many flights covering domestic sectors but will not carry any domestic passengers. The airline has posted a note saying:

Please note that all Domestic Flights mentioned in schedule below are meant for International connecting passengers departing and arriving on the Air India Evacuation flights.

The schedule lists all departure and arrival details in relation to each flight which again can change. Passengers are requested to keep checking with the airline for any updates on their flights.

Given the extraordinary situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the schedules are subject to change at short notice. Kindly bear with us and please do visit Air India website for latest updates.

There is plenty of good news for Australians stranded in India and those Indians stuck in Australia. A total of 8 flights have been announced to fly between Delhi-Sydney (4 flights) and Delhi-Melbourne (4 flights) between 15 June and 24 June. Contact your travel agent immediately (or Air India) if you have not registered your interest already. Flight schedule is as below:

Delhi to Sydney:
Date                   Flight No.       Departing         Time    Destination      Time     Date

15-Jun-20          AI  0302             DELHI                  13:55     SYDNEY               07:20     16-Jun-20
18-Jun-20          AI  0302             DELHI                  13:55     SYDNEY               07:20    19-Jun-20
20-Jun-20         AI  0302             DELHI                  13:55     SYDNEY               07:20    21-Jun-20
22-Jun-20         AI  0302             DELHI                  13:55     SYDNEY               07:20    23-Jun-20

Sydney to Delhi:
Date                 Flight No.          Departing          Time    Destination     Time    Date

17-Jun-20         AI  0301                SYDNEY               09:15     DELHI                  17:25    17-Jun-20
19-Jun-20         AI  0301                SYDNEY               09:15     DELHI                  17:25    19-Jun-20
21-Jun-20         AI  0301                SYDNEY               09:15     DELHI                  17:25    21-Jun-20
23-Jun-20        AI  0301                SYDNEY               09:15     DELHI                  17:25    23-Jun-20

 

Delhi to Melbourne:
Date                  Flight No.         Departing         Time    Destination      Time     Date

16-Jun-20          AI  1324               DELHI                  13:55     MELBOURNE     07:00     17-Jun-20
19-Jun-20          AI  0308              DELHI                  13:55     MELBOURNE     07:00     20-Jun-20
21-Jun-20          AI  0308              DELHI                  13:55     MELBOURNE     07:00     22-Jun-20
23-Jun-20          AI  1324              DELHI                  13:55     MELBOURNE     07:00     24-Jun-20

Melbourne to Delhi:
Date                  Flight No.          Departing           Time   Destination       Time    Date

18-Jun-20         AI  0309                MELBOURNE      09:45    DELHI                   17:40     18-Jun-20
20-Jun-20        AI  0309                MELBOURNE      09:45    DELHI                   17:40     20-Jun-20
22-Jun-20        AI  0309                MELBOURNE      09:45    DELHI                   17:40     22-Jun-20
24-Jun-20        AI  1325                 MELBOURNE      09:45    DELHI                   17:40     24-Jun-20

 

When Modi government closed borders in March to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, suddenly hundreds and thousands of Indians got stuck in various parts of the world while many foreigners and NRIs got stuck in India. The Vande Bharat Mission was started to rectify the situation as the cure for the virus is some time away and people needed to get home. Started on May 7 to bring stranded Indians home and give an opportunity to those stuck in India to travel back to their home countries the mission has already delivered Phase I & II carrying thousands of people taking them to their destinations.

More to come.

By Singh