Vande Bharat Mission Phase 4: Air India flight departs with 222 Indians from San Francisco

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San Francisco: A special flight Air India flight carrying 222 stranded Indians from San Francisco departed for Delhi and Bangalore on Monday (June 29, 2020) under the Vande Bharat Mission Phase 4. 

Taking to Twiiter the Indian consulate in San Francisco said, ''flight#21from San Francisco -AI 174 took off from @flySFO at 11.05 hrs (PDT) for DEL-BLR with 222 pax on board. Wishing them a safe flight!"

#VandeBharatMission
- flight#21from San Francisco -
AI 174 took off from @flySFO at 11.05 hrs (PDT) for DEL-BLR with 222 pax on board. Wishing them a safe flight ! @DrSJaishankar @HardeepSPuri @harshvshringla @SandhuTaranjitS @IndianEmbassyUS @MEAIndia @PMOIndia @airindiain pic.twitter.com/Cimd2XJNCY

— India in SF (@CGISFO) June 28, 2020

Vande Bharat Mission, which started from May 7, is in its fourth phase. The recent phase commenced on June 11.

As on Thursday, 3,64,209 people have returned under this mission., the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

In the first three phases of the Vande Bharat Mission, around 875 international flights were scheduled for operation from over 50 countries across 5 continents.

Indian Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday said, ''More than 150K people have returned on VBM flights & 55K have flown out of India.''

More than 150K people have returned on VBM flights & 55K have flown out of India.

With Phase-4 of the mission all set to soar, these numbers will increase significantly. More Indians will be able to return home.

Today 4784 people returned to India from different countries. pic.twitter.com/F8KMP6vWmQ

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) June 28, 2020

So far more than 700 of these flights have reached India, repatriating around 150000 Indians. The Indian government has also approved additional flight services to bring back Indian nationals who are still stranded abroad.

(With ANI input)