At least 2,500 Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) are returning to the country every day in the wake of the global Covid-19 pandemic situation. The return is mainly due to job losses of the NRIs in their countries of residence.
To return to India, the NRIs are taking advantage of the Vande Bharat Mission, a Government of India initiative to bring back stranded Indians from several parts of the world.
About four flights are coming to India every day, while most flights are from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The number of Indians returning to their homeland permanently may be higher in the coming days when scheduled flights start operating after improvement in the Covid situation.
However, the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation has hinted more number of flights depending on the request from the respective Indian embassies.
Under the operation, the flights are coming from Singapore, Riyadh, Dubai, London, Frankfurt, Newark, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain, Kabul, Sharjah, Doha, Muscat. The Indian cities where the flights are landing are Bangalore, Kochi, Kannur, Chennai, Amritsar, Mumbai, Delhi, Kozhikode, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, Kannur, Varanasi, and Trichy
A Ministry of Civil Aviation source said, “A total of 2,518 passengers came to India in the flights Vande Bharat Mission on May 23. Maximum incoming passengers (904) were from Dubai. Twenty-four flights have reached India under the Vande Bharat Mission on May 23.”
These flights included Vande Bharat Mission flights from Singapore, Muscat, London, Kabul, Dubai etc.
Region-wise, most of the passengers availing the Vande Bharat flights were from South Indian states, as 1,337 passengers landed in various cities of South India, and 476 passengers have arrived in Delhi.
Vande Bharat Mission flights started operations on May 6 last year. The operations under the mission helped many Indians come back on time because people could not travel abroad or come back except in some countries by buying direct tickets.
Some social groups, clubs even booked chartered flights for passengers to transports the stranded Indians in many parts of the world.
Under the operation, the flights are coming from
Singapore, Riyadh, Dubai, London, Frankfurt, Newark, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain, Kabul, Sharjah, Doha, Muscat.
The Indian cities where the flights are landing are: Bangalore, Kochi, Kannur, Chennai, Amritsar, Mumbai, Delhi, Kozhikode, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, Kannur, Varanasi, and Trichy.