In a first for a private airline, IndiGo to join Vande Bharat Mission

IndiGo (InterGlobe Aviation) will join the Vande Bharat Mission to repatriate Indians stuck overseas, the first instance of a private airline joining an exercise that was a monopoly of Air India till date.

In a statement on May 21, the country's largest airline said, it "has been authorised to operate 97 Kerala reparation flights to the Middle East. Adhering all the precautionary measures, the flights will be operated between Kerala and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Doha, Kuwait and Muscat. IndiGo has been granted nearly half of the total 180 repatriation flights allotted to private airlines."

The government had launched the Vande Bharat Mission in May to bring back about 1.9 lakh Indians who were stuck overseas since the national lockdown was imposed in March. At present, the second phase is on.

Till now, Air India and its unit Air India Express, had operated all the flights. In the first phase there were 64, and in the second 149 flights.

There were murmurs in the industry about Air India's monopoly as these flights were paid for. Air India, as per a Moneycontrol estimate, stood to make up to Rs 40 lakh per flight.

Earlier on May 21, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had mentioned that these flights had brought back 20,000 Indians till now.

“We had expressed eagerness to support the government’s repatriation efforts from the Middle East. These special flights offer an opportunity to leverage our network strength in the Middle East..." IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta said in a statement.

The 97 repatriation flights will include 36 flights from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 28 from Doha, 23 from Kuwait and 10 from Muscat to Kerala.