Operation Ganga: First Evacuation Flight Carrying 219 Indian Nationals from Ukraine Lands in Mumbai

Under Operation Ganga, the first Air India flight carrying 219 Indian evacuees from war zone Ukraine landed safely in Mumbai on Saturday at around 8:30 pm. The flight that had departed from Mumbai at 3.38 am. Union Minister Piyush Goyal was present at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport to welcome the first batch of evacuees and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working relentlessly to ensure the safety of every Indian.

Goyal shared a video on Twitter welcoming the nationals back to their motherland. “Welcome back to the motherland! Glad to see the smiles on the faces of Indians safely evacuated from Ukraine at the Mumbai airport.Govt. led by PM Narendra Modi ji is working relentlessly to ensure the safety of every Indian,” he tweeted.

The aircraft, which had taken off from the Henri Coanda International Airport, Bucharest, Romania this afternoon, brought home 219 passengers, mostly students from India.

Goyal asked the returning passengers to speak to their friends still in Ukraine and reassure them not to worry. He said the government is working in mission mode to ensure safety of our citizens.

He added that more evacuation flights are being operated and the second flight is likely to land in Delhi in the wee hours of Sunday.

The minister also thanked Air India for its commitment to the national cause, which was met with an applause by all the homecoming passengers.

Retweeting Goyal’s tweet, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called it a “first step of Operation Ganga”.

Evacuees including many students thanked the govt for their swift action in bringing back the Indian nationals to their homeland.

In a statement earlier in the day, CSMIA said, “In the light of the current crisis in Ukraine, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) is extending full support to the evacuation of the stranded Indian students, who are arriving in Mumbai today (Saturday) by AI-1944 at 8 pm (expected time of arrival).” The private airport operator also said it has blocked a special corridor for the arriving passengers.

The Ukrainian airspace has been closed for civil aircraft operations since the morning of February 24 and therefore, the evacuation flights are operating out of Bucharest and Budapest. Around 20,000 Indians, mainly students, are currently stranded in Ukraine, according to officials.

The private airport operator said it has fenced in a special area at the facility for the arriving passengers to sit and will also provide them with free Wi-Fi codes, distribute food and water bottles. They will also be provided with any guidance or medical assistance if required at the time of arrival, it said.

The airport has blocked a special corridor for the arriving passengers, CSMIA said, adding as per the guidelines laid down by the government, the Airport Health Organization (APHO) team at the facility will be conducting mandatory temperature checks. Passengers would be required to produce either a COVID-19 vaccination certificate or a negative RT-PCR test report at the time of arrival. In case any passenger is not able to show any of the documents at the time of arrival, they will have to undergo RT-PCR testing at the airport, where the cost would be borne by the airport, it said.

These passengers would be able to leave the airport post-testing negative. Before the closure of the Ukrainian airspace, Air India had operated one flight to Ukrainian capital Kyiv on February 22 that brought 240 people back to India.

It had planned to operate two more flights on February 24 and February 26 but it could not do so as the Russian offensive began on February 24 and the Ukrainian airspace was consequently shut down.

The Ukrainian airspace has been closed for civil aircraft operations since the morning of February 24, and therefore, the evacuation flights are operating out of Bucharest and Budapest.

(With inputs from PTI)

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