Vande Bharat Mission: Evacuation flight from Manila lands in Mumbai with 1387 passengers

As a part of the 'Vande Bharat' Mission, the Air India evacuation flight from Manila, the Philippines carrying 1387 passengers landed in Mumbai on Monday morning. Taking to Twitter, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar thanked Air India and aviation Ministry for their support and co-operation for a successful evacuation process. 

Read: Vande Bharat Mission: 1st evacuation flight from Bahrain lands in Cochin with 177 people

'Vande Bharat' Mission

In a major relief for Indians stranded abroad amid the Coronavirus lockdown, the Centre had announced that their travel will be arranged via aircraft and naval ships in a phased manner. The mission that started on May 7, will go on for 7 days and will rescue stranded Indians from over 11 countries in 64 Air India flights carrying over 14,800 people. The flights will take off for 12 countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Maldives, Singapore, and the US. 

The Ministry of Home Affairs also issued the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the movement of the returnees. According to the SOP, those wishing to return to India must register themselves with the Indian Missions in the country where they are stranded, along with necessary details as prescribed by the Ministry of External Affairs. They will have to travel to India by non-scheduled commercial flights that'll be arranged by the Civil Aviation Ministry (MoCA) and naval ships to be arranged by the Department of Military Affairs (DMA). Only those crew/staff, who have tested negative for COVID-19, will be allowed to operate the flight/ship.

As per the MHA, priority will be given to compelling cases in distress including migrant workers/labourers who have been laid off, short term visa holders faced with the expiry of visa, persons with medical emergencies/ pregnant women/ elderly, those required to return to India due to death of family member and students. The cost of travel, as specified by the MoCA and DMA will be borne by such travellers.

Read: Vande Bharat Mission: Five Air India repatriation flights handled by Delhi airport on Sunday

Meanwhile, taking to Twitter, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that six flights from Doha, London, Singapore, Riyadh, Kuwait, and Kuala Lumpur were flown back to India on Sunday.

Read: First 'Vande Bharat Mission' Evacuation flight from US to takeoff; Day 4 schedule here

Read: Five Air India pilots test positive for COVID-19; all had flown cargo flights to China