Air India Flight With 241 Passengers from Ukraine Lands at Delhi Airport as Russia Tensions Escalate

An Air India flight with 241 passengers from Ukraine landed in Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport at around 11:45 pm on Tuesday. The airline has operated a Boeing 787 aircraft to bring back Indian nationals amid rising tensions between Ukraine and Russia.

The flight AI 1946 took off from Boryspil International Airport in Kyiv at around 6 pm, PTI quoted officials as saying.

“Feeling relieved,” an Indian student pursuing a medical course in Ukraine told ANI after landing at the airport.

Earlier, Air India flight AI 1947 took off from Delhi at around 7.30 am and landed at Boryspil International Airport at around 3 pm IST (Indian Standard Time). According to a civil aviation ministry official, some other Indian operators are also expected to operate flights to Ukraine depending on the demand.

Since the past few weeks, tensions have been escalating between Ukraine and Russia, and on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.

On Tuesday, the Indian embassy in Kyiv again asked Indian students to temporarily leave the country amid the rising tensions.

Air India, on February 19, announced that it would operate three flights between India and Ukraine on February 22, 24 and 26. Meanwhile, full-service carrier Vistara’s CEO Vinod Kannan on Tuesday said Vistara has no plans at this time to operate flights to Ukraine. “At this time, we are not planning flights to Ukraine because of aircraft limitations and other reasons,” he told PTI.

On February 17, the civil aviation ministry asked Indian carriers to look at the possibility of operating flights to Ukraine due to the increase in demand.

Besides, the ministry had removed the curbs on the number of flights that can be operated between India and the eastern European nation under the bilateral air bubble arrangement to facilitate travel of Indians from that country.

(with inputs from PTI)

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