Air India to operate India to China flights under Vande Bharat Mission between Delhi and Wuhan on October 30. By Tanvi Jain
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National carrier Air India is all set to operate a Vande Bharat flight from Delhi to Wuhan on October 30, for the first time since the capital city of Chinese province Hubei, was officially declared COVID-19 free in June 2020, six months after the virus emerged here in December 2019.
However, earlier the national carrier was supposed to operate between Delhi and Guangzhou on October 23, but the schedule was changed due to technical issues. “Due to technical and scheduling reasons, the upcoming VBM flight scheduled for October 23, 2020, stands postponed to October 30, 2020. The flight will be now operated on Delhi-Wuhan-Delhi sector. The inconvenience caused is deeply regretted. You can reach out to helpdesk (helpdesk.beijing@mea.gov.in) for any assistance or guidance in this regard,” Embassy of India Beijing mentioned in a press release.
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“Government of India is facilitating stranded Indian nationals abroad to return to India under Vande Bharat Mission on compelling grounds in a phased manner. As part of this process, Air India is planning to operate two flights on Guangzhou-Delhi Sector on 23rd and 30th October 2020,” it had earlier said.
Meanwhile, those flying from Wuhan to Delhi as per the latest schedule will have to stay in quarantine for 14 days, in hotels designated for this purpose.
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India has so far operated five flights to Shanghai, Guangzhou and Ningbo, to ferry back Indians to their homeland, and had operated three special flights to Wuhan back in February 2020, when the virus was at its peak.
While India now has over 79-lakh cases (as on Oct 26, 2020), with over six lakh active cases, China stands slightly over 85,000, with a total of 265 active cases. However, while India shows a recovery of over 71-lakh, in China it’s over 80,000.
Related: Wuhan In China Has Finally Been Declared COVID-19 Free
