2 Operation Ganga Flights Bring Back 370 Indians From Ukraine

Two Air India Express flights carrying Indian evacuees, mostly students from the war-torn Ukraine, reached here from Budapest and Bucharest via Kuwait, at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), an official said here on Sunday.

The flights IX-1202 (Bucharest) and IX-1602 (Budapest), each flew down 185 Indian nationals (total 370) who had crossed the borders to reach neighbouring Hungary and Romania, from where they took the flights.

The arriving passengers included a maximum 120 people from Kerala, Tamil Nadu (58), Andhra Pradesh (28), Uttar Pradesh (18), Rajasthan (17), Bihar (16), Maharashtra (15), Telangana (14), Haryana (13) and Delhi (10).

The rest are from Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Odisha, West Bengal, Punjab, Jharkhand, Puducherry, Meghalaya, and Jammu & Kashmir.

The CSMIA authorities had deployed special measures for the speedy exit and luggage clearance of the Ukraine evacuees, and following the Covid-19 protocols.

Representatives of various states later took charge of their people to help them with their lodging-boarding or onward journey plans by trains or flights.

The government officials indicate that another flight is expected early on Monday morning, details of which are awaited.