BENGALURU/LONDON:
Air India’s second flight to bring back Indians stranded in the UK took off from Heathrow Airport in London on Sunday with 323 aboard, en route to Bengaluru. The flight is part of the Indian government’s ‘Vande Bharat’ mission to bring home Indians stranded overseas.
The plane was also ferrying the body of a 37-year-old Indian-origin man who had committed suicide. Gadigeppagouda Onkaragouda Patil died at Slough in Berkshire on March 13, days before the lockdown and the stoppage of international flights.
The Indian High Commission has urged all passengers to follow social distancing, while the national carrier has provided passengers with a kit containing meals, snacks, sanitizer, mask and gloves.
The next set of flights from the UK will land at Hyderabad (Monday), Mumbai (Tuesday), Ahmedabad (Wednesday), Chennai (Thursday) and New Delhi (Friday).
On their return to the UK, the flights will bring back British expatriates.
