Air India could operate special flights to Ukraine to evacuate Indians

The Indian government has asked its country people in Ukraine to remain calm as it works to increase the number of flights between the two countries, as reported by the Times of India. Air India, which is no longer government-owned, could be operating special flights to Ukraine, as per TOI.  

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This comes a day after the advisory issued by the government asking Indians to evacuate from Ukraine due to the troop buildup at the country’s border. 

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has also set up a control room dedicated to helping Indian students and others leave Ukraine, TOI reported. 

Notably, scheduled international flights to India remain suspended as of March 2020. However, Ukraine is one of the 35 countries that share an air bubble agreement with India. While no Indian carrier flies to Kyiv, Ukraine International Airlines has a non-stop flight to Delhi once a week, at present. As per TOI, this is expected to double in frequency next month. 

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To this end, TOI quoted a government official saying, “We are aware that many Indian students are presently in Ukraine, and their families are anxious about their wards, particularly about getting flights to India. Discussions are underway with civil aviation authorities and various airlines on how to increase the number of flights between India and Ukraine”. 

The situation at the Ukraine border has grown tense. While the US has evacuated their embassy in Kyiv, fearing an invasion, Russia has rubbished such claims.

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The Vladimir Putin-led government also claimed that it has withdrawn troops from the Ukraine border. However, these claims were met with scepticism from NATO and Ukraine. The US also claimed that Russia has added 7,000 more troops along the Ukraine border, which puts the current count over 150,000, the estimate provided by President Joe Biden, earlier this week.