State Environment and Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday spoke to Air India CMD Rajiv Bansal and sought more repatriation flights to bring back stranded citizens to Maharashtra.
In a letter dated June 6, Mr. Thackeray wrote to Mr. Bansal seeking the initiation of flights to Maharashtra from Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia.
In a series of tweets, Mr. Thackeray said, “I also requested him to look into the issue of flights from Bishkek. The ones landing in Maharashtra have hardly any citizens from the State. Those flights could land directly in their home States, save them time, and have more flights to Maharashtra for citizens from Maharashtra.”
Pending requests
The State government has informed the Ministry of External Affairs of numerous requests to operate flights from Indians stranded in Australia, UAE and Singapore. “We requested this in Vande Bharat 3, but they haven’t been featured as yet. We hope this will be approved soon,” Mr. Thackeray said in his letter.
The Centre has begun preparations for the third phase of the Vande Bharat Mission. In the first phase, May 7 to 15, around 15,000 Indians from 12 countries were brought back. The second phase, scheduled from May 17 to 22, has been extended till June 13