The Centre plans to fly back as many as 30,000 stranded Indian nationals from 31 countries in the second phase of the Vande Bharat Mission, Union Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday, May 13.
The second leg of India's largest evacuation plan will be initiated between May 16 to May 22 and will evacuate almost double the number of Indians than the first phase.
"In the 1st phase of the Vande Bharat Mission, we were to bring back 14,800 Indians on 64 flights. Now, in the 2nd phase, the numbers are being doubled. 30,000 more Indians will return from 31 countries on 149 flights," said Puri.
31 flights Kerala-bound; 17 flights to land in Karnataka
As per plans under Vande Bharat Mission Phase-2, 31 flights will come to Kerala, 22 to Delhi, 17 to Karnataka, 16 to Telangana, 14 to Gujarat, 13 to Rajasthan, nine to Andhra Pradesh, seven to Punjab, six each to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, three to Odisha, two to Chandigarh, and one each to Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
Bengaluru will see direct flights from Melbourne, Vancouver, Toronto, Paris, Frankfurt, Dublin, Jakarta, Washington, San Francisco, New York, Dammam, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, Muscat and Doha.
Statewise breakup of 149 flights under Phase2 (including 30 feeder flights) from May 16-22.
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 13, 2020
Kerala 31. Delhi 22. Karnataka17. Telangana 16. Gujarat14. Rajasthan 13. Andhra Pradesh 9. Punjab 7. Biha 6. Uttar Pradesh6. Odisha 3. Chandigarh 2. J&K 1. Maharashtra 1. Madhya Pradesh 1. pic.twitter.com/VpA0Tv0QYD
Indians to be rescued from 31 nations
Out of the total number of 149 flights that will be operated between May 16-May 22, 13 flights will come from the US, 11 from the UAE, 10 from Canada, 9 each from Saudi Arabia and the UK, 8 each from Malaysia and Oman and 7 each from Kazakhstan and Australia.
Besides, 6 flights each will arrive from Ukraine, Qatar, Indonesia and Russia, 5 from the Philippines, 4 each from France, Singapore, Ireland and Kyrgyzstan, 3 each from Kuwait and Japan, 2 each from Georgia, Germany, Tajikistan, Bahrain and Armenia, and 1 each from Thailand, Italy, Nepal, Belarus, Nigeria, and Bangladesh.
Phase-1 flew to Bahrain, Bangladesh, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, UAE, UK & USA. Flyers have to pay for these services & will undergo a paid 14-day quarantine in their destination states. All prescribed preventive measures will be taken. pic.twitter.com/B6pE3p8Nqh
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 13, 2020
In the first phase of Vande Bharat Mission that will end on May 14, a total of 64 flights from 12 countries have been scheduled to bring back 14,800 Indians from 12 countries. As of Tuesday, 12 May, as many as 6,037 Indians were evacuated in 31 inbound flights operated by Air India and Air India Express.
