India has begun Vande Bharat Mission Phase 2 earlier on Wednesday this week. The first flight from Dubai International landed at Vijayawada Airport on Wednesday with 65 passengers on board.
The Ministry of External Affairs launched this mission as demand for repatriations has increased once again. Thousands of passengers from around the globe are expected to arrive daily on repatriation flights.
Vijayawada Airport is expected to handle ten weekly international flights, mainly from Doha, Dubai, and Muscat, making it one of the busiest airports for repatriation flights in the coming weeks.
Vijayawada airport was also quite busier in Vande Bharat Mission Phase 1. According to the ministry, 55,600 passengers have repatriated on around 490 flights bound to Vijayawada Airport. As Vijayawada International Airport has no scheduled international flights despite having an international airport, it has become a hub for repatriation flights.
The Ministry of External Affairs launched the Vande Bharat Mission back in early May last year. Since then, this mission has brought home 89 lakh Indian citizens, in 13 months.
Many countries have either imposed a ban or placed India on their red-list because of rising COVID-19 cases.
