First Air India flight from US brings 225 stranded Indians

Mumbai : First Air India special flight, which took off from San Francisco with 225 Indians on board, landed in Mumbai on Monday.

The passengers departed from San Francisco International Airport on Saturday (local time) under the Government of India's Vande Bharat mission on Sunday.

"First AI spl flight from the US brings in 225 Indians from San Francisco to Mumbai. Thank @airindiain @MoCA_GoI and Maharashtra Govt for support and coordination. Great work by CG Sanjay Panda and Team @CGISFO," External Affair Minister S Jaishankar tweeted.

Air India is operating in San Francisco sector after 50 days as India had imposed restrictions due to COVID-19 spread.

Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, India is conducting ''Vande Bharat'' Mission -- its biggest ever repatriation exercise since independence -- to bring back stranded Indians from abroad, including from the US, the UAE and the UK.

Nearly 15,000 Indians are expected to return on special Air India flights from 12 countries in the coming days.