Operation Ganga: Five evacuation flights bring 981 Indians home on Thursday

New Delhi/Mumbai: The Indian Air Force said its four evacuation flights with 798 Indians from the Romanian capital Bucharest, Hungary's Budapest and Polish city Rzeszow landed at the Hindon airbase on Thursday morning.

An Air India Express flight from Bucharest carrying 183 Indians, also landed in Mumbai on Thursday.

The IAF's first flight carrying 200 people from Bucharest landed at 1.30 am. The second flight brought back 210 Indians from Budapest on Thursday morning. A little while after the second, the IAF's third evacuation flight arrived at the airbase from Rzeszow with 208 Indians.

"The fourth flight of the Indian Air Force C-17 from Bucharest landed at the Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad at 8:15 am. As many as 180 passengers, mostly students, were on board," the IAF noted in a statement. All four IAF flights were conducted using C-17 military transport aircraft.

Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt was present at the tarmac to welcome back the evacuees, the statement noted.

"Today, the IAF is operating three more flights to various locations in the neighbourhood of Ukraine towards the effort," it mentioned.

India has been evacuating its citizens through special flights from Ukraine's western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24 due to the Russian military offensive.

"The IAF C-17 heavy-lift transport aircraft have been extensively used for evacuation of stranded citizens of India in the recent past, most notably from Afghanistan. These aeroplanes have also been utilised to transport oxygen containers in large quantities during the COVID-19 outbreak last year," the IAF mentioned.

Four Union ministers have gone to Ukraine's western neighbours to facilitate the evacuation of Indian nationals. Hardeep Singh Puri is in Hungary, Jyotiraditya Scindia is in Romania, Kiren Rijiju is in Slovakia and V K Singh is in Poland.

183 Indians land in Mumbai

Meanwhile, an Air India Express flight from Bucharest carrying 183 Indians, including an infant, stranded in Ukraine landed in Mumbai on Thursday.

Union Minister Raosaheb Danve welcomed passengers of the third evacuation flight from Bucharest to Mumbai, as soon as the Air India Express Flight IX 1202 landed here around 5.30 am.

"I have been asked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to welcome you. There were around 17,000 Indians, including students, stranded there (in Ukraine) and the PM started Operation Ganga to evacuate them," Danve said, interacting with passengers, many of them students, inside the aircraft.

Around four to five thousand Indians have been brought home so far and the operation will continue to bring back those still stranded there to the country, the minister said.

An Air India Express flight carrying 182 Indians from Ukraine had landed in Mumbai from the Romanian capital Bucharest on Tuesday morning. That was the second evacuation flight operated to Mumbai from Bucharest to bring back Indians from war-ravaged Ukraine since February 27.

India to bring back 3,726 people in 19 flight today

The IAF and Indian carriers will operate 19 flights to bring back 3,726 Indians from Ukraine's neighbouring countries to India on Thursday, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said.

Under Operation Ganga, eight flights of the IAF, Air India and IndiGo will operate from the Romanian capital Bucharest to India on Thursday, he said on Twitter.

The minister said two flights of IndiGo will depart from Romanian city Suceava and one flight of SpiceJet will leave from Slovakian city Kosice on Thursday.

The IAF, Go First and Air India will operate five flights from Hungarian capital Budapest to India on Thursday, he said, adding IndiGo will operate two flights from Polish city Rzeszow to India the same day.

"With all hands on deck and the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, we will get 3,726 of our people back home today. Jai Hind!" Scindia tweeted.