Under Vande Bharat Mission, Hyderabad International Airport on Thursday handled arrivals of several evacuation flights from multiple destinations.
The first Air India AI 1914 from Jeddah via Vijaywada landed at Hyderabad International Airport with about 68 Indian citizens at around 12.24 AM yesterday.
Second Air India AI 174 arrived from San Fransisco (US) to Hyderabad via Bangalore. This flight landed yesterday at around 12.16 PM with 81 passengers who disembarked at Hyderabad Airport.
The Third flight-- Air India AI 1347 arrived from Singapore to Hyderabad at around 8.35 PM with the passenger load of 149.
Notably, all the passengers went under thermal screening test before exiting the aerodrome as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said that upwards of 20 thousand Indian citizens have been brought back to the country under the Vande Bharat mission so far and the number will rise further in the coming days.
"Under Vande Bharat mission, we have brought back more than 20 thousand of our citizens from various destinations. We have at the same time utilised the outgoing aircraft to carry our citizens who are normally residents abroad, and needed to travel because they have jobs to do and other commitments," Puri had said at a press conference here.
( With inputs from ANI )