Ukraine crisis: Aviation Ministry says 11 civilian, 4 IAF flights will bring back Indians on Saturday

Over 2,200 stranded Indians to return on Sat 11 civilian, 4 IAF flights to bring back stranded Indians on Saturday

New Delhi, Mar 4: The civil aviation ministry on Friday said that eleven civilian and four Indian Air Force (IAF) flights will bring back stranded Indians from Ukraine's neighbouring countries.

Over 2,200 Indians are expected to return on the 11 civilian flights, with 10 landing in Delhi and one in Mumbai, the ministry said in a statement on Friday.

The statement did not say how many Indians will be coming on the four IAF flights. India has been evacuating its citizens through special flights from Ukraine's western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24 due to a Russian military offensive.

On Friday, 14 civilian and three IAF flights brought 3,772 Indians back, the statement noted. "One more civilian flight is expected to arrive later in the day (Friday)," it mentioned. The IAF has deployed C-17 military transport aircraft for the evacuation exercise.

The civilian flights are being operated by Indian carriers such as IndiGo, SpiceJet and Air India. "So far, over 9,364 Indians have been evacuated by 43 special civilian flights," the statement noted. PTI