More flights added to help citizens as part of Vande Bharat Mission: Hardeep Singh Puri

Jun 10,2020

58 more flights have been added to help the stranded Indian Citizens from the Gulf Countries as part of the Vande Bharat Misson, said Civil Aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday.

Starting immediately and till the end of this month the number of flights as part of the Vande Bharat Mission have been increased from the current 107 to 165, the minister added.
On Monday the minister had said that till now more than 66,000 people had been brought to the country by Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express in 365 flights as part of the Vande Bharat Mission. In addition, 17,180 passengers had left the country to their respective countries on 369 flights, the minister added.

On the same day, Puri said that Air India hasn’t overcharged the passengers in bringing them back to India, although the fares are higher than what they would be in normal circumstances.

"Civil Aviation operations cannot but reflect the costing. Normal operations are different from evacuation operations. Aircrafts have to be parked for upto 40 hours on long haul routes before the return journey during Vande Bharat Mission. There are other costs involved as well," he said.

"Please remember that unlike special charter, Air India is charging these fares for scheduled flights and earning revenue both ways," he said.