BRAND-NEW DELHI: The massive
Vande Bharat Mission
of flying back lakhs of Indians stranded abroad started with two
Air India Express
flights reaching Kerala from UAE on Thursday night bring 363 individuals on board. The 2 flights– Abu Dhabi-Kochi IX 452 with 177 guests and four babies and Dubai-Kozhikode IX 344 with 177 passengers and five babies– landed around 10.30 pm.
Passengers of Abu Dhabi-Kochi flight at the airport after landing in Kerala
#VandeBharatMission: First repatriation Air India Express flight from Abu Dhabi lands at Kochi Airport in Kerala https://t.co/ReuS4n6IEd
— The Times Of India (@timesofindia) 1588873339000
Earlier this morning, both the 189- seater Boeing 737 s of AI Express took off for Kerala with 2 pilots and four cabin crew members on board each aircraft. The low expense arm of AI will keep last 2 rows of each aircraft vacant for travelers showing Covid symptoms in isolation. Therefore, the reliable seating readily available is 177 (189-12 vacant seats in last two rows).