Vande Bharat Mission News

Over 275,000 Indians overseas were provided assistance under the mission The government organised the 'Vande Bharat Mission' from May 7, 2020

Air India operated the first international flight from the country with a fully vaccinated crew on Delhi - Dubai sector Flight IX, 191 operated from Delhi to Dubai with the pilots and all crew fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 The airline has been part of the Vande Bharat Mission

Centre said that the central government is ready to fly passengers to these countries whenever they ease their limits. Saudi Arabia is one such country that does not allow airlines to bring passengers from India currently amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Flight services between India and Germany have recommenced under the bilateral air bubble arrangement Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday. As per the arrangement, Lufthansa and Air India will operate 10 and seven flights, respectively, per week, said Puri taking to micro-blogging site Twitter. Scheduled international flights have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Centre on Tuesday stated that till August 31, more than 11 lakh Indians (excluding land border crossings) have returned to India under the Vande Bharat Mission. Citing the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Singh made the announcement in Lok Sabha. Vande Bharat Mission consists of special repatriation flights operated by Indian carriers and chartered flights operated by both Indian and foreign carriers.

The Central government had started the Vande Bharat mission on May 6 to help stranded people reach their destinations through special international flights on a payment basis Scheduled international passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 23 Between May 6 and August 31, a total of 5,817 inbound flights have been operated under the Vande Bharat mission from various countries.

The Vande Bharat Mission started in early May to evacuate Indians stranded abroad due to coronavirus-induced travel restrictions. The mission is in its sixth phase which will continue till October 24. The Phase 6 became operational on September 1 and 1,007 international flights have been scheduled in this phase.

International flights continue to facilitate repatriation and outbound travel of stranded citizens under Vande Bharat Mission since 6 May 2020. More than 15 lakh people have returned through various modes including more than 4.5 lakh on flights so far. The Aviation Minister also informed that 4,059 Indian nationals returned on September 5.

Category of persons eligible to travel will be permitted by the Home Ministry from time to time. Civil Aviation Ministry will display on its website the category of persons eligible to travel out of India," it read. The eligible persons would have to apply to the civil aviation agency or their designated agency along with their necessary details.

More than 10,98,000 Indians stranded in countries abroad due to coronavirus pandemic have been repatriated under the Vande Bharat Mission so far, the Ministry of Civil Aviation announced on Tuesday. The Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri also informed that India is in negotiations with 13 countries including Australia, Italy and Japan to establish bilateral air bubble arrangements for flight operations.

The experts were of the opinion that the real reasons would be known only after a thorough probe into the crash is carried out and it is premature to conclude about why and how it happened The aircraft, bringing back 190 stranded Indians from Dubai, broke into pieces after it overshot the table-top runway 10 and fell into a valley 35 feet below, leaving 18 people dead The expert said the reasons for the crash could include environmental factor, human factor, technical factor, health of the plane, administrative factor and external factor

6,063 stranded Indians returned under Vande Bharat Mission on August 9. The Vande Bharat Mission started in early May to evacuate Indians stranded abroad due to coronavirus restrictions. The Air India Express flight carrying 190 passengers including 10 infants skidded while landing at Karipur airport in Kozhikode on Friday late evening.

The TAAI has written two letters on the matter -- one on July 30 and another on August 6 -- to the Civil Aviation Ministry and Air India Air India said that it has been operating the Vande Bharat Mission flights under directions from the government to evacuate Indian citizens stranded abroad due to COVID-19 pandemic It added that it has also been keeping fares at a very reasonable level, in spite of the mounting costs due to several constraints in India and abroad during the pandemic

More than 120,000 foreigners belonging to 120 countries have been repatriated from India. Operation Sanjeevani delivered 6.2 tonnes of essential medicines and hospital consumables to the Maldives. The MEA has till date organised 10 such COVID-19 related eITEC training webinars in association with premier medical and governance institutions.

Minister said that the Centre is now preparing to dovetail Phase-4 of Vande Bharat Mission into Phase-5 from August 1. Phase-5 will connect India with places like the United States, Canada, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Singapore, United Kingdom, Frankfurt, Paris.

Over 7.88 lakh Indians returned home under Vande Bharat mission: MEA Under Phase 4 of the Vande Bharat Mission, a total of 1,197 flights have been scheduled so far Of these, 694 flights reached India as on July 22, repatriating nearly one lakh people: MEA Phase 4 is expected to continue until August 2, by which time around 80,000 more people are expected to return

Under this evacuation policy, Indians having "compelling reasons" to return like pregnant women, elderly people, students and those facing the prospect of deportation were being brought back home amid COVID-19 pandemic situation.

A special flight Air India flight carrying 222 stranded Indians from San Francisco departed for Delhi and Bangalore on Monday (June 29, 2020) under the Vande Bharat Mission Phase 4. 

The order said, "We are taking this action because the Government of India (GoI) has impaired the operating rights of US carriers and has engaged in discriminatory and restrictive practices with respect to US carrier services to and from India."

Air India flight carrying 167 stranded Indians from Dhaka will land in Delhi on Monday (June 15, 2020).