Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — A Delhi-bound special flight of India's national carrier left King Khalid International Airport, Riyadh, with139 passengers on board on Sunday afternoon. The AI 926 flight, carrying 14 women and eight children among the passengers, landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi around 10 p.m. This was the second of the five special flights Air India began operating from Saudi Arabia as part of the Indian government's largest repatriation of its nationals stranded abroad under its Vande Bharat Evacuation Mission. The government of India started on Thursday the operation to bring back around 14,800 stranded Indians from 12 countries on board 64 Air India flights. The national carrier operated the first flight on Friday from Riyadh to Kozhikode (Calicut) in the southern state of Kerala with 152 passengers on board while the third flight will depart from Dammam to Kochi in Kerala on May 12. The Jeddah–Delhi special flight of May 13 has been rescheduled by the government of India and now it will operate on Jeddah–Kozhikode sector on May 13, the Indian Consulate said in a statement. The last of the five flights will leave Jeddah for Kochi on May 14. The economy class fares for the flights from Jeddah to Kozhikode and Kochi have been fixed at SR1,200 and SR950 respectively, in addition to miscellaneous charges. The Consulate General has assured all the Indian citizens stranded in the western region of the Kingdom that more flights would be operating to different destinations, including state capitals, depending upon the requirements over the coming weeks. It urged the Indian nationals who wish to be repatriated to fill-up the registration form in the Embassy's website to be considered for repatriation. In a virtual press conference and a statement a few days ago, Indian Ambassador Dr. Ausaf Sayeed said that in the first phase of the repatriation process, priority is being given to pregnant women and accompanying family members, people with medical emergencies and distressed workers. More than 60,000 Indian nationals have so far registered to travel to India since the launch of the online registration on April 29. Around 800 Indians are estimated to fly back home in the first week of the repatriation, of which the ambassador described as the limited evacuation of the most compelling cases. "Flights to different destinations in various states such as Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan are planned over the coming weeks starting from May 16, and all the Indian nationals who have pressing needs will be accommodated in the earliest possible flights," he said. He added that the Embassy and the Consulate are working around the clock to ensure the smooth operation of repatriation of all those stranded in the Kingdom.
