Air India's first repatriation flight from Thailand carrying stranded nationals is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi on Wednesday evening.
"Check-in of passengers for AI335 - Bkk - Del. First repatriation flight from Thailand to India. Embassy personnel led by HoC Pankaj Sharma help in the procedures and distribute food and water - with a smile!" the Indian Embassy in Thailand wrote on Twitter.
In previous days, the Indian mission team led by Attache Titus Eduri arranged bus services to escort nationals stranded in Phuket and Pattaya, located 150 kilometres from Bangkok.
On May 13, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said that the second phase of Vande Bharat from May 16 to 22 will include flights from Armenia, Australia, Belarus, Canada, France, Georgia, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Nigeria, Russia, Tajikistan, Thailand and Ukraine.
"In 1st phase of Vande Bharat, we were to bring back 14,800 Indians on 64 flights. 8,500 Indians have already returned till this morning. More flights are underway. In the 2nd phase, the numbers are being doubled. 30,000 more Indians will return from 31 countries on 149 flights," he said.
( With inputs from ANI )