Private airlines like IndiGo and Spicejet are chipping in to bring back thousands of Indians stuck abroad after India and other nations imposed lockdown bringing international air travel came to a halt.
The government recently allowed around 870 chartered flights, transporting around 2 lakh passengers, both inbound & outbound.
In addition to facilitating the Vande Bharat Mission, DGCA granted permission to around 870 chartered flights, transporting around 2 lakh passengers, both inbound & outbound. Several Airlines helped in the humanitarian mission of taking stranded people to their destinations.
— DGCA (@DGCAIndia) June 15, 2020
Private airlines are running charter flights to international destinations mainly in the middle east to capitalise on this unmet demand. According to its spokesperson “SpiceJet is operating multiple international charter flights on a daily basis and is proud to contribute to efforts to bring stranded Indians back home.”
William Boulter, Chief Commercial Officer of IndiGo says that they are running between 16-17 charter flights weekly since June which include both passenger and cargo flights. The ticket prices are in the same ballpark as the scheduled prices that we were charging before COVID-19 crisis.
India’s flag carrier Air India has brought back nearly 67000 Indians stuck abroad over two phases of the Vande Bharat mission. Booking for Vande Bharat phase 3 which will run 300 flights between June 10 and July 1 is currently on.
While there have been murmurs about booking difficulties in the previous Vande Bharat missions, the onboard experience has been satisfactory for most passengers.
With private airlines also sharing the load those stuck abroad can hope for a return to India soon.