‘Operation Kaveri’: SpiceJet flies 184 rescued Indians from Jeddah to Kochi

Domestic carrier SpiceJet has extended support to Centre's 'Operation Kaveri' to bring back the Indians stuck in battle-hit Sudan as it evacuated 184 people on Sunday.

The airline, which operated its first evacuation flight from Jeddah to Kochi , has said that it remains committed to supporting the Centre's mission of bringing back Indians stuck in Sudan.

"We are humbled by the opportunity to contribute in the evacuation of stranded Indians from Sudan under 'Operation Kaveri'. SpiceJet remains committed to supporting the Government in its mission to safeguard our citizens and enable their safe return to their homes and families. We successfully operated our first evacuation flight from Jeddah bringing back 184 stranded Indian nationals. We are in touch with the government to operate more such flights," ANI quoted Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director of SpiceJet, as saying.

SpiceJet is planning more flights to evacuate Indians from Saudi Arabia and other regions and it is in regular touch with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia to coordinate the evacuation process. It has to be noted that SpiceJet is well connected to Saudi Arabia and operates daily flights from Jeddah to Calicut, Delhi and Mumbai.

However, this is not the first time where SpiceJet has come forward to join hands with the Indian government in such missions. Earlier, it had evacuated over Indian 1,600 students under "Operation Ganga", having operated special flights to Budapest, Kosice and Suceava. It had also played a key role in repatriating Indians and foreign nationals during the pandemic times.

Sudan is witnessing a deadly fighting between Sudan's army and a paramilitary group, which broke out earlier this month, and left around 528 people dead and at least 4,599 injured.

India launched 'Operation Kaveri' on April 24 to bring back its 3,000 nationals from Sudan.

People are being evacuated in buses from the conflict zones in Sudan and being taken to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia in Indian Air Force's heavy-lift transport aircraft and Indian Navy's ships. The evacuees are then brought to India either by commercial flight or IAF aircraft.