14 airlines operated 34 rescue flights

They helped evacuate foreign nationals and bring back Indians

28/03/2020, JAGRITI CHANDRA,NEW DELHI

Fourteen international airlines operated a total of 34 flights in the past three weeks to evacuate foreign nationals from India as well as to bring back Indians stranded in different parts of the world following travel restrictions to contain the spread of COVID-19, according to DGCA data.

Malaysian carrier AirAsia Berhad has so far operated the maximum number of flights, i.e. seven, to evacuate Indians from Kuala Lumpur as well as to evacuate Malaysians from Tiruchi, Vishakhapatnam and Chennai between March 18 and 24.

Japan Airlines will be operating a flight each on Friday and Saturday in addition to three it has already flown into India to evacuate Japanese nationals from New Delhi.

Since the surge in COVID-19 cases in Iran in early March, two of its airlines, Mahan Air and Iran Air, have operated five rescue flights to allow Indians to return from Tehran as well as to evacuate their citizens and cargo from New Delhi.

European carriers, Lufthansa, Aeroflot, Austrian Airline, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, LOT Polish, among others have operated a total of seven flights to India after India cancelled foreign tourist visas.

Lufthansa sent its A380 aircraft from Frankfurt to Delhi to evacuate German nationals earlier this week. The flight was among the total 220 special flights operated by Lufthansa Group airlines (comprising Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa and Eurowings) across the globe, a press statement said.