IndiGo has “repatriated” 212 Indians citizens from Russia. IndiGo has operated the first passenger charter from Moscow-Kochi. IndiGo continues its repatriation efforts as the airline operated a special charter flight from Russia to bring back stranded Indian citizens. The IndiGo flight 6E 8691 from Moscow to Kochi flew a total of 212 passengers. The central government launched the Vande Bharat mission at a time when regular international flights have been suspended due to the Coronavirus pandemic situation. Phase 5 of Vande Bharat mission is scheduled to end on August 31. So far, close to 4 lakh fliers have been ferried under this mission.
IndiGo’s flight en route Moscow-Amritsar-Kochi had brought back mostly students. The flight was operated with the assistance of the Embassy of India in Moscow, Russia, and Nixtour India Private Limited. The IndiGo flight was operated following all the precautionary measures. “We are pleased to leverage our resources to operate repatriation flights to support stranded citizens. We would like to extend our gratitude to the Indian government for allowing charter operations, this being our first flight from Russia. We look forward to contributing and support the nation in these times,” IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta said.
International flights to and from India were suspended on March 23 amid the Coronavirus crisis. Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has stated that the suspension of scheduled international commercial passenger flights would remain in place till August 31. However, the restriction is not applicable to international all-cargo operations and special flights approved by the DGCA.
IndiGo has a fleet of 262 aircraft as of March 31, 2020, the airline offered 1,674 peak daily flights during the quarter and connected 62 domestic destinations and 24 international destinations.