COVID-19: 2nd phase of Vande Bharat mission from May 16-22

New Delhi, May 12: The second phase of Vande Bharat Mission will be launched from May 16-22. It will bring back Indians from 31 countries. 149 flights including feeder flights will be deployed.

In the first phase, Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express have operated 31 inbound flights during the first five days of the Vande Bharat mission, bringing home 6,037 Indians who were stranded abroad amid the coronavirus-triggered lockdown.

"6,037 Indians have been flown back to India in 31 inbound flights operated by Air India and Air India Express under Vande Bharat Mission in 5 days beginning from 7th May 2020," the Civil Aviation Ministry said in its press release on Tuesday.

India has been under lockdown since March 25 to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has infected more than 70,000 people and killed around 2,290 people in the country so far.