50,000 Indians Evacuated Under Vande Bharat Mission; Says Hardeep Singh Puri

Mumbai: Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday tweeted that under India’s repatriation process named ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ more than 50,000 stranded Indian nationals have been evacuated from different countries.

“Despite COVID19 and the lockdown, our efforts to serve the nation didn’t cease but just took a different form. The Vande Bharat Mission has already evacuated more than 50,000 stranded & distressed Indian citizens. We are now preparing to significantly increase these flights,” Puri wrote on Twitter.

The aviation industry has hit worst by the COVID19 lockdown, now as in Lockdown 5.0 or Unlock 1.0 government has eased the situation, Puri said, “The MHA guidelines for lockdown 5.0 announced on May 30 will facilitate the gradual & calibrated reopening of the aviation sector. As we move towards a critical mass of 50-60 per cent operation of domestic flights, our ability to resume international operations will also improve.”

https://twitter.com/HardeepSPuri/status/1267380357504139265?s=19

“We have taken several reform measures under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan for the aviation sector such as opening airspaces for airlines and opening other airports for private sector participation. We will continue to proactively engage and support our aviation sector,” he said in another tweet.

For queries regarding International flights Puri said in a tweet, “Within India, most international flights operate from the metros where travellers arrive from neighbouring cities & states. Our metro cities were under various degrees of lockdown which are beginning to be lifted. Some of them are still allowing only limited flights to operate.”

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