National carrier Air India will operate the first special flight from New Delhi to Singapore today, under India’s massive ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ to bring back its citizens stranded abroad.
Following the laid-down Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) which were released on Tuesday, the airline has tested its pilots and crews for Covid-19 and is expecting their reports by today afternoon.
The aircraft has been readied and Air India has also taken care of all other logistical aspects to embark on this mission.
According to highly placed sources, the Delhi-Singapore flight will be the first in the 64 special flights which will be operated by the airline and its subsidiary Air India Express from today until May 13.
The Singapore flight will also be the only one to be operated today.
“There is no delay in our flight operations, we are following all the set guidelines, which were released only yesterday.
In such a short time we have achieved readiness and are only awaiting the final test report,” a source told IANS.
India will launch one of the world’s largest air rescue operations from today, when Air India and Air India Express start the first phase of the mission.
According to plans, the two airlines will operate 64 flights in seven days to bring back 14,800 stranded Indians from 12 countries.
Overall, more than 190,000 Indian nationals, who would have to pay one-way fares, are expected to be brought back in an airlift operation that might last a few weeks.
In comparison, three decades ago, Air India led a group of airlines which included Indian Airlines and Aeroflot as well as the Indian Air Force to rescue an estimated 111,711 Indians from the Gulf, after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990.
The 59-day operation involved 488 flights and was conducted before the first Gulf war.
This time, the exercise will encompass flights to the US in the west to the Philippines in the east.
Under the plan, 10 flights will be operated to the United Arab Emirates, two to Qatar, seven each to the US and Malaysia and five to Saudi Arabia, among others.
Lately, despite its precarious financial position, the flag carrier has emerged as one of the few airlines in the world that have evacuated more than 9,000 passengers during the Covid-19 crisis. The airline so far has carried out massive flight operations to China, Japan and Europe to bring back Indians, mostly students and pilgrims.
Additionally, the airline has been instrumental in repatriating foreigners to Israel, UK and Germany.
In a related development, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said non-resident Keralites returning from abroad and from within the country will remain in state-run quarantine centres for a week.
However, pregnant women and children are exempted.
Flights bringing them will arrive at the Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode airports.
The Kannur airport is not on the list, but would be added in the second schedule.
“The exception from quarantine is only for pregnant women and children, who can remain in isolation at their homes. This is the rule for all those arriving from outside the country and those from within the country,” Vijayan said.
Airport staff cleans the arrivals terminal at the Cochin International Airport ahead of the arrival of an evacuation flight, yesterday.
