On Saturday afternoon, Air India’s first evacuation flight departed from Bucharest, Romania’s capital. The plane is carrying 219 Indian people from Ukraine to Mumbai. According to authorities, these Indian citizens and students were stuck in Ukraine when Russia started a military operation against the country on Thursday.
On Saturday at 11:40 a.m., the second Air India evacuation flight took off from Delhi. According to the official, the flight is scheduled to arrive in Romania’s capital of Bucharest at 6:30 p.m.
“Indian nationals, who reached the Ukraine-Romania border by road, have been taken to Bucharest by the Indian government officials so that they can be evacuated in the Air India flights,” they said.
At 1:55 p.m., Air India’s first evacuation flight, AI944, took off from Bucharest. The flight is due to arrive at Mumbai airport at about 9 p.m., according to the airline. The second evacuation flight is scheduled to arrive at the Delhi airport early Sunday morning. According to the official, the second flight will transport another 250 Indian people from Ukraine.
On Saturday, Air India is planning to conduct more flights to Bucharest and Budapest, Hungary, in order to rescue Indians who have become stuck in Ukraine.
According to the government, around 20,000 Indians, mostly students, are presently stuck in Ukraine. Since the Ukrainian airspace has been blocked from civil aircraft operations since the morning of February 24th, evacuation planes have been flying from Bucharest and Budapest.
According to official sources, Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and V Muraleedharan would meet Indians returning from the war-torn nation in airports.
The Indian embassy in Warsaw recommended Indian nationals coming to the Poland-Ukraine border by public transportation, such as a bus or cab, to use the Shehyni-Medyka crossing rather than the Karkowiec crossing on Friday.
According to the embassy, the Polish government only allows individuals to cross the border on foot at the Shehyni-Medyka crossing point. The Karkowiec crossing, according to the embassy, is reserved for those driving their own cars.
