Bhubaneswar: The much awaited direct flight between Bhubaneswar and Dubai will take off from Dubai International Airport, May 14, carrying 179 Odias under Government of India’s (GoI) ‘Vande Bharat’ evacuation mission.
The Vande Bharat Mission which is being operated to rescue stranded Indians abroad will see three flights to Odisha among the 149 flights in its second phase of operation. Facilitated by national carrier Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express, the three flights will be operated to Odisha from USA and Malaysia apart from the historic UAE.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, Amiya Kumar Mishra, President of Odisha Samaj UAE said, “This historic flight is to be coordinated by the Odisha government on the advice of the Consulate General of India as well as the Odia community in the UAE.”
According to sources, around 2,500 Odias in Dubai have registered to return to Odisha. Taking it to Twitter, Odisha Samaj UAE, the largest association of non-resident Odias across the region, further said, “We are anticipating cooperation from every fellow Odia brother and sister stranded in UAE. We care for you and stand in solidarity with all of you. We are doing our best to accommodate maximum distressed people in the first plane scheduled to fly on May 14. For now, only 179 can fly. The final decision on the evacuee list is in the hands of Indian Consulate.”
Following the plight of stranded Odias, the Odisha Samaj UAE last month had requested Consul General of India in Dubai, UAE for a special flight each from Dubai and Abu Dhabi to Bhubaneswar for repatriation of stranded Odias. The AI flight 1996 will depart from Dubai this Thursday (May 14) at around 3pm and is scheduled to arrive at the Bhubaneswar Airport the same day at 9:15pm.
The repatriation exercise to bring back Indian citizens stranded abroad has after the Centre gradually eased air travel restrictions imposed since March 24. As per the Ministry of Civil Aviation, as many as 6037 Indians have been flown back to India in 31 inbound flights under Vande Bharat Mission in 5 days beginning from May 7, 2020. The mission is touted as the world’s largest evacuation operation undertaken since Independence.